Chapter 162 Iron Armored Ballista
Strictly speaking, Xiao Chen is not considered a literati, and the shocking poems he recited were not written by himself, but picked up from others.
He just likes literature very much and has read a lot of Tang poetry, Song Ci and ancient articles.
He is actually a man of science and technology.
The major studied is mechanical design, manufacture and automation.
Mechanical design, manufacturing and automation can be regarded as a wide-caliber major, with a wide range of design disciplines.
It is based on mechanical design and manufacturing, integrates computer science, information technology, automatic control and other technologies, uses advanced design and manufacturing theories and methods to solve various complex technical problems in the field of modern engineering, and also has intelligent design and manufacturing A multi-disciplinary, multi-directional cross-professional.
That's why he was able to design and manufacture a wheelchair with quite advanced craftsmanship.
As for the heating system, it was a child's play to him.
It is no exaggeration to say that he knew it when he was in elementary school. At that time, the heating production of grandpa's work was in a downturn, so he came out to pick up private work by himself. Xiao Chen, who was on summer vacation, followed behind him. Why didn't he watch too much? Sometimes I even help put on a few loops of thread buttons...
So when Xiao Chen finished receiving the settling allowance, after a dozen great craftsmen whose mood had obviously improved a lot gathered together and had a cordial chat, everyone immediately looked at him with admiration.
"Marshal Xiao, why are you also a blacksmith?" A small but stout blacksmith guessed.
"This, it doesn't count, it doesn't count." Xiao Chen said with a smile.
"Either you are from a family of craftsmen, the key points of the smelting technology you mentioned just now, if you are not an expert, you can't tell them at all!" said the little blacksmith.
"I usually like to think about these things. It's a hobby. What's your brother's name?" Xiao Chen has always been so approachable, which made the big guys quite panic.
"Oh, I don't dare to be that. The villain is called Liu Tiebi. Because I have strong arms, people call me Liu Tiebi." Although he is small, his arms are very thick.
"We're just chatting, no matter who we are, we're just talking about brothers, Big Brother Liu, with our current tools and iron smelting furnace, can you think of a way to smelt lead and iron into an alloy?" Xiao Chen gradually stepped into the topic.
"It is possible, but there are several ways, depending on what it is used for?" Liu Tiebi became energetic when he talked about his profession.
"To make bullets for muskets, now our bullets are all made of iron. First, the weight is too light to hit far. Second, the iron is too hard, which will damage the barrel of the gun. The barrel of the gun will be useless after a long time." Xiao Chen said.
"That's simple, it's iron covered with lead, I can do it!" Liu Tiebi grinned, what a big deal it is?
"Okay, tomorrow you can choose a few helpers to go to Deputy General Wei Yuntian, and discuss with you two how to make it." Xiao Chen was overjoyed.
"Okay!" Liu Tiebi was very excited, he had a job to do as soon as he came, and he got five taels of silver every month!
Besides, this is the first errand assigned to us by the marshal, so I will give it to my old Liu. Even if my old Liu is exhausted, I will definitely do it well for you, Marshal!
"Gongsun, can you make big carts?" Xiao Chen asked Gongsunban again.
"Look at what you said, Marshal, we are master craftsmen, how can we not even know how to build a car?" Gongsunban was not very happy when he heard this.
"I'm talking about chariots." Xiao Chen ordered someone to bring a piece of white paper, and asked for a piece of sharpened graphite. While writing and drawing on the paper, he expressed his thoughts and intentions to the big guy.
"Marshal, this is not a chariot, isn't this a car?" A fat carpenter called Liu Yishou immediately expressed doubts when he saw Xiao Chen draw the general shape of the car.
The car he mentioned is actually a box car like a sedan chair.
"This is called a box car. Who said that a box car can't be used as a combat vehicle?" Xiao Chen said with a smile, "And what I want is an armored chariot that can shoot bows and crossbows."
Oh? The craftsmen were all interested after hearing this, so what do you mean, Marshal...
Xiao Chen started to draw the graphics inside the car. He is a person who has studied mechanical design, and he is a professional in graphic painting!
But a bunch of professionals said they didn't understand.
"Marshal, you want to wrap a layer of iron on the outside of the car, and then install a large crossbow inside the car. We all understand, but what are you doing in such a row? And why do you want these triggers connected to the bowstring? Such a design? Also, the lower part seems to be a spring? But what is its function?" Expert Gongsun Ban was also confused when he saw it.
What Xiao Chen wanted to manufacture was a continuous-fire bow and crossbow, and he still used a mechanical device to control the firing. In theory, he hoped to achieve a rate of fire of 20 bows per minute, of course, dozens of bows were also possible.
Those curved rows are the arrow boxes for crossbow arrows. The trigger connected to the bowstring has a gear transmission device, which can automatically fire continuously. The spring below is used to push the arrows in the arrow box onto the bowstring.
Uh... so that's what it means.
The design idea of Marshal is really awesome, and the structure is actually not very complicated, but there are still many specific problems that need to be solved. First of all, it is difficult for us to make the spring piece at present, and it will not be very durable.
In addition, although the structure inside is not very complicated, it is not strong. The car needs to move, if the installation is not strong enough, it will fall apart halfway!
Therefore, it is best to be disassembled, and it would be more ideal if it can be folded, so that most of the space in the car can be saved for loading materials...
It's quite a challenging job.
But all excellent craftsmen are somewhat neurotic or obsessive-compulsive. The more difficult the job is, the more they want to make it and do it well.
"Big guys think about it slowly. If there is any problem, let's go back and find time to continue the discussion. I have to take a step ahead." Xiao Chen got up and said goodbye.
Umm, ah, let's go? let's go.
The big guys were all focused on the drawings, and when they heard Xiao Chen's words, they just agreed casually, no one looked up at him at all.
The reason why Xiao Chen wanted to make this heavy armored ballista was to deal with the Xianbo cavalry.
In this era, the cavalry is the pride of heaven in the army. With their awesome mobility and terrifying speed, they are almost invincible on the battlefield.
The Xianbo people are nomadic people. They grew up on horseback since they were young. In order to compete for the rich pastures and limited resources, they are almost always in a state of combat. Therefore, no matter men, women, old or young, they are all good at riding and shooting.
Most of Yanyun County is a plain area, which is most suitable for cavalry operations.
Although the more than a thousand people selected by Xiao Chen's subordinates can barely be regarded as elite soldiers, most of them are infantry. They can ride horses, but they are far from capable in cavalry combat.
With more than a thousand infantry formed temporarily, after hundreds of miles of raids to fight against tens of thousands of elite cavalry... It's really no different from sending a head.
But Xiao Chen is not reconciled, he also said, even if he is a grasshopper after autumn, he still has to jump a few times!