Chapter 569 Battle Preparation

   "The last general, Wang Ping, has met the prince."

  Wang Ping has changed his official position in the past few years, and he has become more confident. At least when I met Feng Yongchu, I no longer felt the hasty feeling of a country rich man entering the city.

   At the same time, he is also much smoother, as can be seen from his "junhou". Only mentioning Feng Yong's title and not his position avoids embarrassment.

   "General Wang is here!"

   Feng Yong's eyes lit up when he saw Wang Ping. Whether the Northern Expedition can get credit for it is an important boost.

So Feng Junhou walked down enthusiastically, led Wang Ping to his seat in person, and then took out a letter from his arms, "This is a letter from Zishi to General Wang. He is far away in Yuejuan, so he can't come in person this time, so I entrust me I brought a letter to General Wang."

  Wang Ping quickly reached out to take it with both hands, with a pleasant smile on his face, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

  Wang Ping and Wang Xun are very interesting father and son.

  Wang Ping was illiterate. In order to let Wang Xun learn to read and study with Feng Yong, he almost emptied his family's floating wealth.

   Later, Wang Xun followed Feng Yongdong to run around, and he dared not fail to read and read for a day. Whenever there was news to pass on to Wang Ping, in addition to sending a message, he had to write a letter.

   Since Wang Ping became the prefect of Zhu Ti, he learned from others and built an ancestral hall. I heard from Wang Xun that all the letters he wrote to the adults were placed on the altar in the ancestral hall, and I don't know if it is true or not.

  Now seeing Wang Ping hiding the most precious thing in his bosom, Feng Yong thinks it is true in all likelihood.

Going back to his seat and sitting down, Feng Yong explained to Wang Ping, "Yue Yu is busy with things, and I need Zi Shi to help watch over there, so this time, General Wang and his son were not able to meet each other. I hope General Wang is no wonder. "

   "Your Majesty's move is for the sake of the dog. Is this a person who doesn't know what is good or bad? Speaking of which, I have to thank you."

  Wang Ping said quickly.

  Now the Wang family is no different than before, and there is no need for father and son to go to the battlefield at the same time to fight desperately. Feng Yong's actions are for their Wang family, how could Wang Ping not know?

   "Zi is actually my brother. Our two families will be separated by thanking you. Speaking of it, I should call you uncle in private."

  Feng Yong waved his hand.

  If Zhao Guang was the first to bond with Feng Yong, then the Wang family was the first to bond with the Feng family.

  Before Wang Ping became the top of the army, Feng Yong was the biggest support of the Wang family.

  Even after Wang Ping became the top of the army, as long as he failed to reach Feng Yong's height, the Wang family would still be Feng Yong's loyal allies.

   "Ping An dare to do this?"

  Wang Ping stood up in fright.

   "Uncle, please sit down."

  Feng Yong snorted, "It's not a military discussion at this time, why should you be so polite? When Wen Xuan was in Nanzhong, he called you uncle, didn't Dudu Li agree?"

  After Wang Ping sat down, his expression was a little restless, and the local rich man who entered the city for the first time appeared again.

   "Can all the 3,000 people brought by my uncle be soldiers?"

As soon as Wang Ping heard Feng Yong bring up a serious matter, he immediately replied, "A certain man was ordered by the prime minister to form a flying army from the five captains, and with the help of his virtuous nephew, there is no shortage of money and food for training. "

   "These three thousand people are the elite carefully selected by a certain person, and everyone can be a soldier."

  Feng Yong smiled and clapped his hands excitedly, "That's great!"

On Wang Ping's face, there was some hesitation, "It's just that when the five captains first built the flying army, the prime minister only gave 2,000 soldiers, and the remaining 1,000 were regarded as auxiliary soldiers. There are long soldiers and strong crossbows."

  From here, it can be seen that Zhuge Liang really delegated power to Feng Yong.

  The same is a county magistrate, Wang Ping can only have two thousand soldiers in his hands, but Feng Yong has several times the number of soldiers in Wang Ping's hands.

   "It doesn't matter. When you come to my place, you are not afraid of having no weapons, but you are afraid that there are too few elite soldiers."

  Feng Yong said eagerly.

  After Nanzhong was pacified, Zhuge Laoyao established five captains, ordered the wealthy families in Nanzhong to pay money, and tried to recruit barbarians to form an army, but now most of them can only be regarded as local troops.

  The Flying Army in Wang Ping's hands is the first recognized barbarian professional mercenary. They can receive food and salary every month, and they will receive compensation for death in battle. Because they are good at walking on mountain roads and walking like flying, they are called Flying Army.

  Wang Ping was born in a barbarian, and the barbarians did not reject him too much. Moreover, he was able to share joys and sorrows with the soldiers. He was cautious by nature and trained harshly. It can be said that he was the best general candidate for this army.

But Wang Ping is not Feng Yong, he does not have that much face in front of the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and this army can only be regarded as an experiment in the eyes of the old monster Zhuge, so there are only 3,000 people, and only 2,000 people are allocated to the military system arms.

  Three days later, Zhang Yi led the rear army to arrive. Feng Yong ordered him and Ju to guard the camp. He took Li Yi, Huang Chong, Wang Ping and others, and rode away to Nanxiang.

  Hanzhong was cut off from Yishi outside two months ago, and all intersections in Hanzhong were also blocked.

  As for Nanxiang, it entered a state of martial law a month ago. The pastures, workshops, and mines in the mountains have all canceled their rest, and personnel must be on duty at all times.

  At the same time, outsiders are not allowed to enter the inner city of Nanxiang.

  Without the consumption support of the inner city and the caravans from outside, all the shops outside suddenly became depressed, and many shops even closed their doors directly.

  The tense atmosphere in Hanzhong made everyone realize one thing: a war is coming.

  On a certain day, a thick and distant bell sounded in the inner city of Nanxiang,

  Many people in the outer city are a little strange. In the past month, the bells in the inner city have always rang from time to time, and they don't know what happened.

  Li Mu, who was bowing his head to settle accounts, raised his head, sat there fixedly, and listened intently.

   Soon, there was a "boom", and the second sound came again after three breaths.

   Immediately after the third tone...

  As the bell rang more and more times, Li Mu's heart beat faster and faster.

  Nine! A full nine!

  Never before have the bells of Nanxiang rang so many times!

  Li Mu dropped the pen in his hand with a bang, stood up abruptly, and shouted sharply, "Come on!"

  The assistant rushed in and was about to salute, but Li Mu immediately ordered directly, "Immediately send an order to the workshop, and all the managers must come and gather, no one is missing!"

   As she spoke, she pulled out her chair, rushed to the bookshelf next to her, pulled out a stack of papers, and hurried towards the door.

  The shrill whistle sounded in the workshop soon, and Li Mu's assistants ran to each workshop, "Ms. Mu has an order, all the managers must gather quickly!"

  The stewards of each workshop rushed out and hurried to the place where Li Mu was sitting on duty.

   After a while, they ran back to the workshop, each holding a piece of paper in their hands, and shouted to the female workers, "Everyone, gather outside!"

  The female workers have rehearsed this situation many times over the past few years, so they silently stopped their work, ran out, and soon finished queuing up.

   "Those who read their names later must stay. Those who don't read their names will go home immediately after dismissal. They are not allowed to go out at will. They must be on call. If anyone refuses to obey orders, they will be expelled!"

  The steward yelled sharply, "Remember, it's expulsion! Hard labor!"

  When all the female workers heard this, they all looked nervous, and at the same time, many of them felt relieved: Is it finally coming?

  I saw that they couldn't help but shut their mouths tightly, their faces were dignified, they even tried to control the sound of breathing, and their eyes were fixed on the steward, for fear of missing a word.

   "This is a critical moment, everyone must work together to overcome this hurdle! In the past few years, Mr. Feng Lang has provided us with a family, enough food and clothing, and our children can read and write. There is no other place in the world except Nanxiang!"

  The steward waved his arms and said impassionedly, "Feng Langjun is our reborn parent. Without him, we would not be here today. Now he needs our help, but whatever he asks, I will do my best to fulfill it!"

   "No!"

  Although it was a woman's voice, but they shouted like this in unison, but it was extremely sonorous and powerful, and the fighting spirit soared into the sky.

  The benefits of forced literacy were manifested at this time. From top to bottom, Nanxiang sent orders very quickly. After a while, everyone was mobilized.

  The state of emergency in the inner city quickly spread to the outside. The black-hatted and black-clothed policemen ran down the street blowing whistles, waving their arms hastily, telling passers-by on the street to return to their houses.

  At the same time, team after team of paramedics rushed out from the inner city and cleared all corners of the street.

  The rangers who have been warned a long time ago must rush back to the Loyalty Temple as soon as possible, otherwise they will be regarded as unruly people and killed on the spot after the limited time.

  The sound of horseshoes came from far and near, and a group of knights came galloping like a gust of wind, crossed the Loyalty Temple at the intersection of the main road, and rushed to the empty street without restraint.

  The person who peeked through the crack of the door was a little surprised, "Who are those people? How could they make everyone in Nanxiang give way to them?"

   "I heard that Prime Minister Zhuge is in Nanzheng, could it be that he came here?"

   "Definitely not. Look at the leader, he is not very old, and he guesses who is the descendant of a powerful family. There are also those followers, who are rare elite soldiers, and should be the leader of the army."

   "Then it should be Zhao Erlang who is stationed in Ju County."

   "Erlang Zhao Jia came here, Xudejing Street, Nanxiang County? I don't think so."

   "That's true. Mrs. Zhang doesn't have such treatment..."

   Speaking of Miss Zhang, I have to mention one person.

  So someone asked carefully, "Could it be him?"

   "Nine times out of ten."

   "What is nine out of ten? I think it must be!"

   Someone slapped his thigh, "Ah! It's actually my confidant who wrote "Xia Ke Xing"! I have admired him for a long time, but I didn't expect to miss it in person!"

   "I heard that he is the son of a high-ranking man, so he may not be able to see me..."

   "You know a donkey's egg! How many of those masters in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties were from rangers? Guo Jing, that Zhang Wuji, which one is not a hero?"

   Someone cursed loudly.

   "Exactly. He might not be his master, he might be a hero! Otherwise, why would you write the article "Xia Ke Xing" specifically for You Xiaer?"

   "That's the reason!"

  …

  Feng Yong rushed directly to the county government gate with his men, and then stopped the horse's head.

   "Xi Yuyu!"

  The tall horse neighed, and its hooves stomped heavily on the ground.

   "Brother!"

  Li Qiu didn't wait for the horse to stop, he went up to meet him and shouted excitedly.

  Feng Yong got off his horse and hurried forward, "Xinhou!"

  When the brothers met, they had a lot of emotion.

   "Meet my brother."

   Li Mu then stepped forward and bowed profusely.

   "Okay, I have worked hard for you in the past few years."

  Feng Yong nodded.

   "Brother, what did you say? I'll wait and sit in Nanxiang, so there's no hard work. On the contrary, brother, traveling north and south, or going to Nanzhong and other plague-stricken places, is hard work."

  Li Mu dressed up meticulously. Instead of the usual tight and narrow sleeves, she wore formal attire, a bright moon pendant, and jingle bells around her ring. Only her eyes flashed, she stared at Feng Yong, and said softly.

   "Don't talk about this, we each have our own duties."

  Feng Yong waved his hand, and then asked Li Qiu, "Where's Jianling Huo?"

   "I'm waiting for my brother in Hanzhongye's workshop."

   "Time is running out, Miss Mu, go back immediately and arrange for the woolen cloth workshop. I will go to Hanzhong Metallurgy's workshop first."

  Li Mu nodded, "I understand."

  People from outside have an illusion that the inner city is the core of Nanxiang, but this is actually wrong.

  The real core of Nanxiang is the textile workshop and Hanzhong metallurgy workshop behind the inner city, as well as those kilns that have been emitting black smoke.

  Of course, speaking on a large scale, it should also include the pastures at the foot of Bashan Mountain and the mines in the mountains.

  They are the real pillars of Nanxiang.

  Feng Yong took everyone to the Hanzhong Metallurgical Workshop, where Huo Yi had already been waiting, "I've seen you."

   "There is no need to be too polite, Jianling Huo, is the thing I want ready?"

   "Hui Junhou, my subordinates have prepared 30,000 iron bars and 300 craftsmen. As soon as the horses arrive, they can install the horseshoes on the spot."

  Huo Yi welcomed Feng Yong in, and said, "These craftsmen, each of them put horseshoes on the Nanxiang Ranch and the horses of Dongfeng Express, and their skills are not unfamiliar."

  With the continuous expansion of Dongfeng Express business, the utilization rate of horses is also getting higher and higher, and there are more and more reports of horse damage due to excessive wear of horseshoes.

  Since Feng Yongping moved to Yuexuan, built a ranch, and had a real source of horses, he began to install horseshoes on the horses used by Dongfeng Express, which is a small-scale attempt.

   This Northern Expedition required a large number of horses to help transport food. Feng Yong brought 5,000 horses from Yuexie in one go, and all of them needed to be shoed within ten days.

   "That's good." Feng Yong nodded, "What about the others?"

   "Your Majesty, please come with me."

Huo Yi led Feng Yong to an open place, where several tables were placed, and on the tables were some strange-looking objects, but it could still be seen that they looked like crossbows, and there were several soldiers waiting for orders beside them. .

   "General Wang, the weapons you need are here."

  Feng Yong walked to the table, picked up a crossbow, and handed it over.

   "Is this a pedal crossbow?"

  Wang Ping took it, feeling that this crossbow was really weird.

   "It is indeed a foot-operated crossbow, but it is more convenient than ordinary foot-operated crossbows, and ordinary soldiers can also use it."

  Pedal crossbow, as the name suggests, is a kind of strong crossbow that puts the arms on the feet and uses the strength of the legs to pull the strings with both hands. It has a long range and great power.

  Even for a light crossbow that is wound only with arm strength, the winding speed is much slower than that of a bow, not to mention this kind of foot crossbow? That is to slow up and slow down, and it requires relatively high strength from the user.

  But the crossbow in Wang Ping's hand was added a pull rod that could be pulled back and forth by Feng Yong. By using the principle of leverage, it achieved the effect of winding with less effort, and at the same time increased the speed of winding.

  At the front of the crossbow, a collar is specially added, which is similar to a stirrup, so that it is convenient to step on it when winding.

   Feng Yong signaled, and soon a soldier stepped forward to demonstrate, stretching the string, raising the arrow, aiming, and buckling the hanging knife. The straw man two hundred steps away shook for a moment, and there was an extra crossbow bolt on it.

  Excluding those sharpshooters and the theoretical maximum range, the effective killing range of ordinary archers in the army is generally around 100 steps, and the best killing range is 60 steps.

   But training an archer is costly and difficult. Not only must you be talented, but you also need to train for a long time without interruption.

  Besides, compared with crossbows, bows and arrows have short aiming time, cannot store power for a long time, and require high arm strength.

  The crossbow is different. Its usage is very simple and does not require special skills. The army can quickly train crossbowmen.

  More importantly, because the crossbow uses arm strength, waist strength, and leg strength to wind the string, the range ranges from far to near, and it is within the killing range of the crossbow from 200 steps to 20 steps.

  It can also store power, and it can be used to assist aiming devices such as mountains to improve accuracy.

  The crossbows in the army are basically foot-operated crossbows, which have a longer range than ordinary bows and arrows. The effective killing range is about 200 steps, and 150 steps is the best distance.

  The disadvantage is that it is difficult to wind.

  So, why the imperial court banned crossbows but not bows is because the power of crossbows is so simple to use, as long as they are normal people, they can exert their power.

  Feng Yong’s improved foot crossbow, while maintaining its power and range, added a collar, which made it easier to string, installed a lever, made winding easier, and the shooting frequency was much faster than ordinary crossbows.

   Of course there are disadvantages.

  A tie rod is added. In order to maintain the power, part of the crossbow is lengthened and its weight is also increased.

   But for Mr. Feng, this is only used after the battle is formed. He squats on the spot and shoots without thinking about charging with it. It is enough for the time being.

"nice one!"

  Wang Ping's eyes lit up, he stepped forward to **** it, and couldn't put it down.

   "Compared with the crossbow in the army, this kind of crossbow can shoot at least two more crossbow bolts at a distance of 150 steps to the horse army. If you are skilled, you can shoot three or four times."

"One shot is enough!" Wang Ping praised, "One more shot for three thousand people, as long as they dare to rush over, at least two or three hundred more people will be killed or injured. If it is an infantry army, it can be fired three or four times more, at least One or two thousand people fell."

   "The more important thing is to save effort. If you have more strength than the opponent, the chance of survival is higher, and the chance of winning is higher."

   This kind of foot-operated crossbow is not much different from the crossbow used in the military today. Ordinary crossbowmen can almost use it with their hands.

  The reason why Feng Yong reacted so strongly to Jiang Bin's disturbance of the production order of Hanzhong Metallurgical Industry Co., Ltd. was that he wanted Hanzhong Metallurgical Metallurgy to build new weapons for him in preparation for the Northern Expedition, taking advantage of the autonomy of Yuejuan Prefect's Mansion.

  Of course, this was after Jiang Bin's inferior sword incident, and Feng Yongcai remembered that he should first fight for it with the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, so as not to be troubled by him again.

   Zhuge Liang wanted to take Feng Yong with him in the Northern Expedition for the purpose of allowing him to learn more and gain some experience at the same time, so he had no objection to his plan to test new weapons among the soldiers in Yuelu.

   Only limited the number of new weapons, less than 5,000 people.

  At the same time, the imperial court only paid half of the money and food, and the remaining half had to be paid by itself.

  As for the luxury gadgets like the Purple Electric Sword, when the Prime Minister of the Han Dynasty knew the cost, he said directly, you can do it yourself, the court has no money and no food!

  In the past two years, Feng Yong has spent money and food in Yuexiu infrastructure and Hanzhong Metallurgical Corporation to develop new weapons, and directly emptied Feng's mansion, including his wife's dowry.

  At the same time, they also emptied the Wang family, Zhao Guang's wife Ben, and Li Yi's private money...

   It can be said that this Northern Expedition was a big gamble for Feng Yong, and if he lost, he would almost lose his fortune.

   Just as Feng Yong was testing the new weapons of the Northern Expedition, there was another rumbling sound at the intersection of Nanxiang, and a herd of horses that could not be seen on the road was coming here.

  At the same time, the seals on all the warehouse doors of Nanxiang Workshop began to be torn off, and then the doors were pushed open to count the supplies inside.

One by one, wooden boxes of different sizes and specifications, but uniformly nailed, were moved out. The surfaces of different boxes were written with wool, arrow feathers, crossbows, etc., and at the same time, the number was marked with Nanxiang's unique symbols. .

  All kinds of stewards held the ledgers, checked their own numbers, and then waved their hands, and the people below began to move to the designated location.

  All the warehouses in Nanxiang, men and women, are like hard worker ants, coming in and out, busy.

  (end of this chapter)