Chapter 465: There is no best, only the most suitable (please vote and subscribe)
"Why do you hold the arrow so tightly with your fingers? Now you haven't even released it, idiot."
"And you, didn't I tell you to hold the tail of the arrow with your fingers? How come your arrow has fallen before you even released the bowstring? Idiot."
Shu Da cursed angrily. He really felt that these teenagers were embarrassing him, especially in front of the leader. He taught them himself, but now they are so useless. How can he, an officer leading troops, hold his head up in front of the leader?
"Okay, what's the point of scolding them? Isn't this their first time to touch a bow and arrow? When you first learned to shoot a bow and arrow, you were not much better than them. Now continue. There are still two arrows."
Luo Chong said slowly beside him, which made Shu Da blush. When he first started to learn longbow, he was often scolded by Luo Chong. Moreover, Shu Da was not the best longbow archer. Almost everyone in the first batch of archers knew this, which was the biggest stain in Shu Da's military career.
The next two rounds of arrows were still terrible. Arrows fell on the spot or missed the target again. Five people, three arrows, and only two hit the target.
However, this situation is very normal in archery practice. When Luo Chong personally trained archers, he started by teaching them how to hold the bow, raise the bow, push the bow and draw the string, and release the bow at close range. Archery is a science, and each action must be broken down and carefully studied and practiced. It is really difficult to expect someone who has just touched the bow and arrow to hit the target every time.
A truly qualified archer army requires long-term practice, which can be as short as three to five years or as long as seven to eight years. They also need to eat well and have a good physique. They are all the elite among the elite infantry.
Even the current archer general flag of the Han tribe can only form a neat queue and then form an arrow formation to play projectile shooting. If they want to make accurate strikes within a hundred meters, only a dozen people in the entire Han tribe can do it. In addition to a lot of practice, it also depends on the talent for shooting.
"Chief, three arrows per person is too few. Let them shoot a few more arrows. This is their first time touching a bow. They can't even hold it steady. How can they aim accurately?" Seeing such a terrible result, Shu Da couldn't help but suggest.
"No, didn't you say they couldn't hold it steady? Then let's try with crossbows. You Ye, you teach them how to use crossbows. Three arrows per person as well. Let's start." Luo Chong waved his hand. He was not here to train archers, but to compare the difference between longbows and crossbows. He didn't have time to waste time here.
"Yes, chief, the five of you, each holding a crossbow and standing still." You Ye responded and immediately began to teach how to operate the crossbows.
These five crossbows were originally equipped for the reconnaissance team to try out. At that time, Luo Chong simply taught them how to use them. In addition, these people all had a foundation in longbows, so they quickly got used to the crossbows. After returning, they gave Luo Chong good feedback. At least within the reconnaissance team, everyone praised the crossbows.
"Look at the iron ring in front, step on it with one foot, with the crossbow handle facing upwards, then pull the bowstring upwards with both hands, and then hang it in this slot. Yes
, hang the bowstring in place. OK, those who have hung the bowstring stand up straight, insert the crossbow arrow into the slide slot from the front, with the arrow head facing forward, and the tail feather should be placed flat on the slide slot. OK, everyone check it again.
After checking, hold the crossbow up, hold the crossbow arm with your left hand, hold the handle with your right hand, and put your index finger next to the trigger. Hold the crossbow against your shoulder, hold it firmly, don't move it, and don't fire it yet.
Look at the protrusion on the iron ring in front of the crossbow arm, this is called As the sight, there is also the vertical sight at the back, which has scales on it, look carefully, count from the bottom up, the first horizontal line is 50 meters, the second is 100 meters, the third is 150 meters, and so on, each additional horizontal line means that the range increases by 50 meters.
Now your target is 70 meters away, so where should you look? Does anyone know?" Youye instructed and interacted at the right time, while Shuda was a little impatient on the side, it was too troublesome to fire this crossbow once, he had already shot ten arrows in half a day.
"I know, I know, one horizontal line is 50 meters, two horizontal lines are 100 meters, so 70 meters should be in the middle of the first and second horizontal lines." A child holding a crossbow shouted loudly.
"Very good, you are right. 70 meters is indeed in the middle of the two horizontal lines, but not exactly in the middle. It should be slightly below the middle.
Now find this position, and then use this position to align the front sight, and finally align it with the center of the target, so that these three points are aligned." You Ye shouted loudly, just like Luo Chong trained them.
Soon, the teenagers adjusted their shooting angles and waited for the next instruction.
"Are they all aligned?"
"Okay."
"I'm done too."
"Okay, after aligning, keep still. If you move, the arrow will be crooked when it is shot out. Now put your finger on the trigger and pull it back."
Bang bang bang bang -
As soon as You Ye finished speaking, there was a sound of bowstring release. The bowstring that had been broken for a long time was released at this moment, carrying the arrow on it, flying forward like a meteor. The sound of
the bowstrings
seemed to have not yet dissipated, and a series of arrow-hitting sounds were heard from the straw target in the distance. All the arrows in the first round hit the target, but only two of them hit the center of the ten-ring circle. The other three were a little off, but they were still around the fourth or fifth ring. If they were aimed at the chest, they might have hit the head, but fortunately, at least they did not miss the target.
The arrows of the five people were high and low, but they all remained on a vertical central axis, which means that there was a slight error in the points they chose when aiming, or the hands holding the crossbows were not stable, and they shook when shooting.
But even so, the shooting effect of the crossbow was enough to crush the longbow. The difference between the two was not in the range or power, but in that the crossbow was faster to use than the longbow. It might take five years to train a qualified archer, but it only takes half a year to train a crossbowman and he can be used in combat.
This is actually equivalent to the gap between muskets and cold weapons. Why did muskets become popular all over the world as soon as they were invented? Is it because muskets are more powerful than bows and arrows? That's nonsense. A good bow and arrow, with an excellent archer, can beat muskets in terms of range, power, and hit rate.
If that's the case, why are muskets still popular? Because training is cheap!
For the same long-range weapon, it takes several years to train an archer, but it only takes two or three months to train a musketeer. You can directly train a farmer who works in the fields all day or a craftsman who works as a worker into a qualified soldier.
The training time is short, the army is formed quickly, and the cost of maintaining an army is low. Even if there are many deaths, new soldiers can be trained quickly to supplement them. Which country would not like such a cheap army?
The current dispute between longbows and crossbows is actually a dispute between archers and musketeers. Although crossbows are not muskets, they have the same purpose. There is not much difference between stringing a crossbow and loading ammunition for a musket, but the way it shoots is very different from that of a bow and arrow.
Why can't novices shoot accurately? Because in the process of drawing the bow and aiming, he must always keep the force in the state of keeping the bow open, and then roughly aim according to experience.
This is easy to say, but it is actually very difficult. You must know that the reason why the longbow is so powerful is because it has a large poundage. It is already difficult for some people to keep the bow open. If the aiming time is a little longer, the arm will shake uncontrollably. In this case, can you still expect him to shoot accurately?
However, bows and crossbows are different from muskets. Both of these weapons are pre-loaded with ammunition, or strung with arrows in advance. During the aiming process, there is no need to hold the weapon firmly. You just need to hold it steady, and then use the mechanical sights on it to aim at the target. The firing process only requires you to gently pull the trigger.
Ask yourself, is it necessary to continue researching such weapons, which one is better or worse? It must be whichever is more convenient. Why are weapons becoming more and more automated? Isn't this the most correct development trend of weapons?
·······
Shu Da stared at this scene in amazement. The first time he touched a crossbow, he hit all the targets in the first round, followed by the second round, all the targets were hit again, and the third round, all the targets were hit again. Except that
he didn't hit the bull's eye completely, there was really nothing wrong with it. Of course, the shooting speed was slow, after all, the newcomer was not familiar with the process of stringing and loading arrows. It's not that Shu Da had never tried a crossbow, but he didn't think it was good. When he first touched a crossbow, he shot very accurately and hit the target every time, but he thought that was because he had used a longbow for two years and had experience in archery, so he didn't notice the special features of the crossbow.
Of course, the characteristic of slow shooting speed was deeply remembered by Shu Da, and it was incomparable with bows and arrows.
A muscular man like him can shoot two arrows in one second with a longbow. Although the long-distance shooting is not very accurate, if a square team can continuously attack at this rate of fire, why bother about the hit rate? A wave of saturation attack can wipe out all the enemies.
However, through experimental comparison, Shu Da has discovered the advantages of the crossbow. This thing is a bit slow, but the hit rate is really high. There are no major problems in other aspects. If this weapon is equipped to infantry, it is indeed very suitable.
The strength of an infantry army depends largely on how many archers you have. After all, the archer is a military unit that is responsible for long-range output. It is an offensive unit with strong lethality and is specifically responsible for beating the opponent.
If you want to play a queue square with me, but I have more archers than you, then you may have been killed by my projectiles before you get to the front. When the two armies really fight, your morale is not as good as mine, and the number of soldiers is not dominant. You can tell me how you want to die.
After the experiment, the five selected older children were also very excited. They didn't expect that they could hit the target every time and had a talent for archery. Of course, this was just because they didn't understand the difference between longbows and crossbows.
"Chief, if we become warriors in the future, can we use this crossbow?"
"Yes, yes, chief, can we use this crossbow in the future?"
Several children began to ask questions non-stop. Each of them shot three arrows. This "excellent" result has made them a little arrogant and inflated, as if they were really amazing.
"Bows and crossbows will be available. We are making them now. There will be more and more in the future. Okay, you guys continue to play." Luo Chong simply replied without saying more in this regard.
After the comparison experiment, Luo Chong led them back. Shu Da was still walking with the crowd in a daze, but his eyes were fixed, and I don't know what he was thinking about.
"Shu Da." Luo Chong called to the back.
"Ah, ah? Chief."
"You have archers under you, too, but are they as accurate as those kids just now?" Luo Chong deliberately emphasized the word "kids".
"Yes, there are, but not many." Shu Da said truthfully.
"Well, how long did it take them to learn to do this?" Luo Chong continued to ask.
"Yes, about two or three years." Shu Da thought for a while and said.
"So do you understand now what is good about this crossbow?" Luo Chong asked with a smile.
After hearing Luo Chong's question, Shu Da suddenly got a shock and suddenly acted as if he had suddenly realized something. He had been thinking about the problem for a long time but couldn't figure it out, but now he suddenly understood it.
"Oh - I know, this crossbow is faster to learn than the longbow?!"
"That's right, this is the key point. If you are asked to train a team of new archers, I'm afraid you won't see any results in a few years, but this crossbow is different. It only takes two or three months to train a group of useful crossbowmen. Tell me, which one is better, the longbow or the crossbow?" Luo Chong explained earnestly.
"Of course, the crossbow is better, but I still have to say that the crossbow is not as fast as the longbow. If a hundred skilled archers fight against a hundred crossbowmen, the archers will definitely win." Shu Da still insisted on his point of view.
"Well, you may be right, but you haven't discovered that the crossbow has advantages. Let's put it this way, how many arrows can each of your archers shoot continuously?" Luo Chong asked an important question again.
"Well, each person will have no strength to shoot thirty or forty arrows in a row." Shu Da calculated and responded.
"Yes, but haven't you discovered the characteristics of the crossbow? The crossbow does not use arm strength but the strength of the whole body to shoot arrows. Each time, you only need to use all your strength to string the string and load the arrow to achieve accurate shooting.
Although the shooting speed is a little slower, it has the advantage of strong sustainability. A person can shoot for half a day without losing strength like an archer, and in the end his arms are trembling and he can be slaughtered."
Shu Da was stunned again after hearing this. He really didn't think of this. He only paid attention to the shooting speed before, but he didn't expect that the low shooting speed has its advantages. It is indeed as the leader said. The intensity of the force is reduced, and naturally it will not be so tiring. Therefore, people using crossbows can persist in combat for a longer time.
"Yes, chief, the crossbow seems to have a slow firing rate, but it can hold out for a longer time. It may not be obvious in the wild, but it is very useful for defending the city.
Just like the last battle to defend the city, the enemy besieged the city for several days. In this case, the crossbow is most suitable. Even if the arrows are shot continuously, a soldier can hold out on the city wall for half a day.
In addition, the crossbow does not require much from the arm. Every time the string is wound, the whole body's strength is used, so even women and children in the city can use it. It only needs to be organized and trained during the slack season every year or in winter. Then, when the enemy besieges the city, they can fight against the wall and protect their relatives."
Ying Rui, who was following him, suddenly said. He participated in the battle to defend the city last time, and he was on the top of the city at that time. Naturally, he could think of what role the crossbow would play in defending the city.
"Yes, that's it." Luo Chong nodded with satisfaction. Finally, there was someone smarter.
"Hehe, it turns out that this crossbow has so many advantages, hehe, hehehe."
Having said this, Shu Da also laughed dryly in embarrassment. There was really no reason to refute. In the words of the leader, weapons have their own characteristics. We cannot blindly compare data. We still have to look at where they are used and who uses them. Only suitable weapons are truly good weapons.
(End of this chapter)
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