Chapter 1461 Traditional Craftsmanship Viking Longbow
The stall Hua Chong visited was selling handicrafts, displaying a collection of longbows. Their designs were simple and quaint, with a slight inward-curving structure at the end. They came in varying lengths, ranging from as long as 190cm to as short as 120cm. Furthermore, unlike typical bows, the bows sold by this vendor all had a single-string groove, with the lower end of the string tied to the bottom.
The owner of this stall looked at Xiao Peng and the others without saying a word. He was a man in his fifties, holding a small knife and carving a small piece of wood. Even when Xiao Peng and the others came over, he ignored them and was still concentrating on carving the small piece of wood: he was carving a chess set, and there were several already carved chess pieces next to him.
Hua Chong looked at the bows and said, "The wood is nice, all yew, but isn't it too simple? You could carve some patterns on them, but it's a shame to have to harden them to increase their hardness. And the bowstrings are made of cow tendon. Boss, what good are these?"
Xiao Peng did not answer him, but asked the stall owner in English: "Sir, are you Danish?"
"Huh?" The stall owner was taken aback by Xiao Peng's words. He stopped what he was doing and looked at Xiao Peng: "Does it say 'I'm Danish' on my face?"
Xiao Peng coughed dryly twice. "Sorry, I guessed wrong. Can you pick up this bow and take a look?"
"Whatever." The boss continued to carve the chess pieces in his hand with his head down.
Hua Chong said depressedly: "Boss, is this guy crazy? This service attitude is really eye-opening!"
Xiao Peng smiled and said, "It seems like business isn't very good. Or maybe it's just because it meets some people who don't know the goods."
"Hmm?" Hua Chong looked at Xiao Peng: "Boss, I think you are implying something, but I have no evidence."
Xiao Peng directly picked up the longest bow and handed it to Hua Chong: "Try pulling it."
Hua Chong was very disdainful after hearing this: "Boss, are you testing me? How can I not be able to pull a bow? I'm afraid he will break it!"
Xiao Peng smiled and said, "If you break it, I'll pay for it."
"Okay, boss, that's what you said!" Hua Chong said as he pulled the bow to its full strength, but his brows furrowed. "Fuck, this bow is so hard! It must have a pulling force of 140 pounds, right?"
Xiao Peng nodded: "Is it a good thing?"
"What on earth is this?" Hua Chong asked in confusion.
Xiao Peng said, "I guessed he was Danish just now because the shape of this bow is very similar to the Hedeby bow."
"Hazeby Bow?" Hua Chong was confused: "I've never heard of it!"
Xiao Peng said, "The bows found in Hedeby, Denmark, are, to put it simply, Viking longbows. They're early Viking bows. I saw bows of this shape when salvaging Viking shipwrecks, but they'd been in the sea for too long and rotted at the slightest touch. Now I see someone making this kind of bow, and the craftsmanship is exquisite, so I say I've found something good."
Hua Chong suddenly realized, "So that's how it is. I thought the Vikings were pretty tough back then. Using such a heavy bow? Who could pull it?" He then picked up a short bow and pulled it twice. "This also requires over 80 pounds of tension."
After hearing this, Xiao Peng suddenly gave Hua Chong the middle finger.
Hua Chong's face was filled with black lines: "Boss, I didn't say anything wrong, why are you giving me the middle finger?"
Xiao Peng asked, "Hua Chong, do you know the origin of this gesture?"
Hua Chong grinned, "Boss, this won't faze me! This is all about bows and arrows! During the Seven Years' War between England and France, the archers of the British army dealt a huge blow to France. The way of shooting arrows in Europe was the 'Mediterranean archery method', which mainly relied on the middle finger to pull the string. So the French commander at the time ordered that the middle fingers of all captured British archers must be cut off. As a result, the war ended in a crushing defeat for the French army. When the French army retreated, the British archers extended their right middle fingers, meaning that our middle fingers are still there and we will continue to defeat you. Later, this gesture was passed down and became an insulting gesture. However, it is really incomprehensible that the French infantry was so powerful that they could not defeat the British archers. Boss, am I right?"
Xiao Peng laughed after hearing this and said, "That's a very correct answer, but you might have misunderstood one point."
"What mistake?" Hua Chong asked in confusion.
Xiao Peng explained, "Do you think that infantry can kill archers by rushing in front of them?"
Hua Chong nodded. "Yeah! Isn't that the case in games and movies? Archers represent agility and speed."
Xiao Peng shook his head. "This is what I meant by your cognitive error. Look at these bows. Do you think a weak person can pull them? And you have to know that in war, it's not just a matter of pulling the bow once, but repeated pulling. Forget about these longbows. Just look at these short bows. How many times do you think an average person can pull them? Considering that people in ancient times didn't have enough nutrition and were short in stature... Let me put it this way. In ancient armies, archers were the strongest and had the best melee abilities! Well, for example, if Kasim traveled back to ancient times? He would definitely be drafted into the role of an archer. You want infantry to charge into the archery lineup? The biggest consequence wouldn't be the infantry slaughtering the archers, but being chased and beaten by the archers! Why did the armies of the time have to have the infantry protect the archers? It wasn't because archers were too weak in close combat, but because archers were too valuable and difficult to train! Think about it, being able to pull such a heavy bow and being accurate requires training. Every archer is a treasure in the army! But what if the archers were weak in close combat? Haha, generally speaking, it would be difficult for the infantry to rush in and then get beaten up. How do you think the Mongolian soldiers conquered Europe back then?"
Xiao Peng picked up the longbow and casually drew two full draws. "Not many bows from the Viking era have been unearthed. There are early Viking bows unearthed in Hedeby, Denmark, and mid-to-late bows unearthed in Ballinderry, Ireland. The bow unearthed in Ballinderry is an Irish work influenced by the Vikings. The bow tip has become double-grooved, and it has begun to have the characteristics of modern recurve bows. But don't underestimate the primitive craftsmanship of Viking-era bows. The production method is really not simple. Just like the quenching hardening process you mentioned, the hardness and elasticity must be maintained. For example, the quenching process for this bow must be repeated for two to three years!"
"So long?" Hua Chong was stunned after hearing this.
As a result, Xiao Peng looked disgusted and said, "How long is this? It takes at least three years to make a bow with Mongolian composite materials in our country! It is normal to spend five or even seven years to make a bow! Boss, how much is this bow?" He asked, holding the longbow.
"Twenty thousand!" The boss looked up and held up two fingers.
"What the hell?" Hua Chong jumped up after hearing this. "Twenty thousand for this piece of junk?"
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