Why is the cost so inconvenient?

The old emperor gave a wink, and an official from the Ministry of Rites stepped out and led the Mongolian delegation away with a smile: "Messengers, please come this way, let's discuss the trade."

The Mongolian delegation understood.

The emperor of Daxia said that he wanted to discuss with the ministers, but in fact he thought their sincerity was not enough. Although the trade could be exchanged for cattle and horses on the grassland, it was far from enough to make Daxia stand on their side just because of this.

Moreover, it was they who begged Daxia to sell them tea, not Daxia begging them for horses.

The official from the Ministry of Rites walked a little ahead, chatting and laughing with the Mongolians a little ahead.

In the back of the team, two Mongolians who were obviously higher in status than others whispered in Mongolian.

"Xiangkun, what should we do? I'm afraid we can't complete the Khan's instructions."

Xiangkun, which means general in Mongolian, frowned: "I didn't expect Xia Ting to be so powerful and have new weapons to deal with cavalry."

Thinking of the wire mesh, the Mongolian general still felt a chill.

As the saying goes, laymen see the excitement, experts see the doorway, that thing is much more terrible than horse ropes and chevaux de frise.

Its biggest advantage is -

fast!

Too fast!

And it's easy to carry!

It's a pity that when they saw this thing before, they felt that it was similar to the use of iron thorns or chevaux de frise, and didn't pay much attention to it. However, after watching the Daxia officials display it, they immediately discovered the incomparable advantages of this thing!

It's cheaper than it, but not as convenient! It is sharper than it, but it does not have the advantage of blocking the horses' charge like a fence!

Infantry can lie behind the wire mesh and use firearms to beat the cavalry into a hornet's nest.

Can a sling have this effect?

"Or..." The Mengman who spoke before said with some difficulty: "According to what the Khan said before we came here, if the negotiation fails and Xia Ting is not willing to only provide us with trade, we will cooperate with the Jinman. As for tea... if we don't open up the trade, we will just rob it. Or we can unite with other barbarians and force Xia Ting to open up the trade."

"No!!!"

The Mengman general suddenly raised his voice, and found that the officials of the Ministry of Rites were looking at him in confusion, so he quickly lowered his voice, but his voice contained a warning: "Didn't you see the wire mesh? Guess why Xia Ting allowed us to watch while he was trying out new weapons?" Do you

really think that the Emperor of Daxia has a problem with his brain and doesn't know what confidentiality is?

That is a warning. If you don't keep your thoughts to yourself, this weapon will be used on you first.

Along the way, the Mongolian general kept thinking of the scene of the barbed wire strangling the horse's hooves.

...

On the other side.

"Where are the scouts!" After sending the barbarians away, the old emperor strode out and faced the cavalry commander with a very stiff tone: "Didn't I say it before? According to normal battlefield simulation. Where are your scouts?" The

cavalry commander was helpless: "The scouts found their traces about a mile away, and from such a distance, there was no way to see whether there was barbed wire. After I got the news, I immediately ordered the light cavalry to harass, and the heavy cavalry followed. What happened next was all in front of your eyes."

- The barbed wire was put up too fast, so fast that the cavalry had no way to turn around and avoid it.

Moreover, if it is a normal battlefield, the other side will also send out their own scouts. It is possible that their scouts will be defeated, and they will not be able to receive any information at that time.

The old emperor was not angry but happy: "Really? Good! Great!"

The test is whether this thing can harm the cavalry in a real war!

Otherwise, do we have to test it on the battlefield?

The wire mesh is like a small, portable checkpoint. The suburbs can be compared to the plains, so the accordion wire mesh is used.

"There is also a fence-type wire mesh."

The Ministry of Works brought it up. This does not require the enemy to demonstrate. Xu Yanmiao asked people to drive piles on the spot and then surround the wire mesh to form something similar to a low wall.

"It is used differently from the accordion wire mesh."

The old emperor nodded: "It is not as flexible as the accordion wire mesh."

You can tell at a glance that these two weapons are used differently.

The fence-type wire mesh was set up in three or four layers, and Xu Yanmiao ordered the Ministry of War to dig trenches behind the wire mesh.

"You can dig as many trenches as you want, but don't dig more than fifty steps."

"This is..." The Minister of War was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes were filled with excitement: "I understand!"

Not all officials knew about military affairs, so the Minister of the Ministry of Rites smiled and asked: "What did the Minister understand?"

The Minister of War: "Look at these three or four layers of wire mesh, isn't it very thick! It will take the enemy some time to destroy it, right?"

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites nodded hesitantly.

The Minister of War said, "There are also these trenches. They are only dug fifty steps because there are more than a hundred steps to be used for musket attacks."

He looked at Xu Yanmiao: "But is this the case, Xu Lang?"

Xu Yanmiao glanced at the Minister of War and nodded, not surprised.

He never underestimated the intelligence of the ancients. Some things they just haven't seen, but it doesn't mean that they won't draw inferences.

The Minister of War hit the essence of the fence-type wire mesh.

During World War I, this thing was generally set up in several layers, just to be dismantled by people. It takes time for the enemy to dismantle it, and our machine guns have enough time to fire in the trenches. Behind the machine guns, there will be a large number of artillery, which will also bombard the area in front of the wire mesh.

Even if the enemy dismantles the wire mesh, they can generally only open a hole for one person to enter or exit. Then, the machine guns of our side will rush to the hole and shoot, and if you want to rush out, you have to pay with your life.

Of course, in many battles, this step may not be achieved, because with artillery coverage, it is difficult for infantry to rush to the position of the wire mesh.

Cavalry is also difficult, who would be willing to let cavalry rush to the rain of bullets?

"Very good!" After Xu Yanmiao's second explanation, the old emperor stared at the fence-like wire mesh for a long time, his eyes fiery: "It's a veritable cavalry nemesis! Even the infantry, if they want to break through, have to risk the attack of muskets and take the trouble to destroy the wire mesh."

The most important thing is that the wire mesh has holes, so the environment can be seen at a glance, and there is no need to worry about becoming a shield for the enemy.

He turned his head and looked at the ambassador of the iron smelting plant.

The ambassador understood the meaning of the song and hurried forward to report in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the total iron production in the country, from the official and private iron taxes, is 18,475,260 catties. Our annual iron consumption is about 6 million catties."

The remaining production is more than enough to make wire mesh.

This thing obviously does not need to stand on the border for a long time, and can be taken out and used when needed. There is no need to worry about the enemy stealing iron.

The old emperor nodded calmly: "Then start production... The Ministry of Personnel will first send officials to the north to survey the terrain and see which places are suitable for installing fence-type wire mesh. Then evaluate how many sheets of accordion-type wire mesh should be produced first. By the way, check if there are any officials who neglect their duties, and replace them if there are - border guards are the top priority and must not be slack."

The Minister of Personnel received the order and began to think about how to implement this matter. His eyes were empty and he was obviously absent-minded.

Until he heard the emperor pick up the stack of papers in front of him with a smile: "Let me see, what is the policy that your family clearly stated is qualified..."

The Minister of Personnel raised his head in a hurry and almost twisted his neck: "Your Majesty! Wait-"

The smile on His Majesty's face disappeared.

His Majesty's hand holding the paper was shaking slightly.

His Majesty took a deep breath and called out the name: "Yang Yu!"

This fifth-rank general of Wude immediately stepped out and shouted: "Your Majesty! I'm here!"

The old emperor: "You tell me what the bird-gunners' hand-to-hand combat ability is too poor?"

Yang Yu said righteously: "Your Majesty! It's because their hand-to-hand combat ability is too poor! If the enemy breaks through the ammunition blockade and rushes in front of them, they can't use bird-guns to hit them!"

The old emperor: "???"

The old emperor's facial muscles twitched a few times: "They are bird-gunners! Bird-guns are for long-range attacks! There is no need to consider what to do if the enemy breaks through the ammunition blockade!"

What they have to consider is how to increase the ammunition blockade!

Yang Yu was full of energy: "Your Majesty! So I want to find a solution!"

"Your solution is to equip the bird gun with a dagger?! When the ammunition is not enough, take out the dagger and insert it in the front part of the gun barrel, and then you can use it as a spear?!"

Yang Yu laughed loudly: "Your Majesty, there is no need to praise me! This is just a little clever idea of ​​mine!"

The old emperor could hardly imagine how strong his willpower was so that he did not lose the paper in front of Yang Yu's face.

He picked up another paper: "Wang Bin!"

The second-rank cavalry general said with a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I..."

The old emperor: "You said that the iron shell mine is too expensive. There is a way to solve it, that is, hollow out the stone, fill it with explosives, and then install a burning wire?"

Wang Bin said cautiously: "No, no?"

The old emperor paused for a word, as if very gentle and earnest: "Okay, of course. Have you tried it?"

"No, no..." Wang Bin swallowed his saliva.

He patted his head and thought that this seemed feasible, so he wrote it down.

The old emperor continued very gently and earnestly, almost with gritted teeth, saying: "Well, when you have tested it, propose to me to mass-produce it. Before that, you should report to the Ministry of Works."

Wang Bin hung his head and looked sad, as if he had lost his parents.

"Marquis Yangwu!!!" The old emperor slapped the table: "Forget the first two, it's still possible to make them. Look what you wrote!"

After hearing this, Marquis Yangwu stood up and danced: "Your Majesty! This is an unprecedented idea that has never been seen before! You see, if we put a few magic rockets into the belly of a thing, twist the medicine thread in one place, and then, the lower end of the head of this thing Put two bazookas, two bazookas at the bottom of the tail, and twist the four tubes of medicine wires together! Then, light the four tubes of medicine wires - "

Your Majesty! Then the four rocket launchers will push the thing to fly towards the enemy! When it reaches the enemy, the four tubes of medicine will be fired. At this time, the magic rocket inside the thing will fly out and burn the enemy!"

"Your Majesty..." Yang Wuhou looked at the old emperor eagerly: "I think this thing can be tried by the Ministry of Industry!"

The old emperor pinched his nose.

Yang Wuhou continued to look eagerly: "Your Majesty..."

Funds!