"Go back and tell Miao Kui not to be too anxious, this crossbow is not perfect, it could have been made thinner and would not be easily deformed. It all depends on the tempering temperature and the quenching medium, which has to be tempered twice, the first time at about 350 degrees for a quarter of an hour, and the second time at about 240 degrees for a quarter of an hour. If you quench it with oil, it shouldn't be so soft. ”

What Hong Tao got in his hands was the finished steel plate crossbow, the shape of its crossbow arm is no problem, the middle is thicker and wider, and the two sides gradually become thinner and narrower, which is very conducive to the instantaneous release of energy, which is the trick that craftsmen have summed up in their work for a long time.

However, there is a problem with the steel plate itself, and the spring steel plate used to make the box car has a large thickness and many layers, so there is no need to do too fine heat treatment, which will be very costly. However, the thinner and smaller the part, the higher the requirements for post-heat treatment.

The problem that the rebound speed of the steel plate crossbow arm is not enough and that it is easy to deform after multiple stretching is caused by the wrong heat treatment process. In this regard, Hong Tao is an ancient authority, but what can be given is only a relatively general range of values.

It was useless to be precise, there were no chemical reagents or industrial thermometers, and all processes had to be tried again and again by craftsmen, and then recorded and passed on in their own way. Even if you let yourself do it yourself, it's the same stupid way.

"I'll just say that the officials must have a way, and that kid from the martial arts family still doesn't believe it! Eight catties, quickly unload the car, and quickly return to Huangzhou City, I want him to see if he is an official or a yellow-toothed kid who is capable! ”

Wang Datou didn't expect the horse to go to the workshop to personally guard the fireside and do dirty work, the horse is now the lord of a state, and there are still many important things to be decided, and he can't rely on the horse to do everything himself.

In fact, as long as there is a general direction and a specific solution, he is very satisfied, and the rest of the things are done by the craftsmen, and the difference between success and success is two days earlier and two days later.

"Hey, big master, don't be busy, the official still has something to explain." Hong Tao likes Wang Datou's vigorous and resolute style, and he has to be so persistent in scientific research to make achievements, what does it mean to be single-minded? Here it is.

However, since seeing these steel plate crossbows, I have also inspired myself to have some inspiration. Now that the ancient craftsmen have gone to the front, how can they be embarrassed to be the guiding light of others if they don't sell their strength. You will improve, you will be able to associate, and I will be even better, to see whose brain hole is bigger!

"Can this crossbow be enlarged several times and turned into a detachable giant crossbow, which can be loaded on a box car, and only need to be taken down and assembled when used. Range...... The farther away the better, instead of pulling the winding by hand, use a ratchet to match the rocker arm. Come on, let's go into the house and draw a picture. ”

Inspiration this thing, it's a stream when it comes, Hong Tao is the more he talks, the more he feels that there are endless ideas, and he can't express them clearly in words, and he must fall on paper.

What did he want to do? He was going to get a big steel crossbow that could be towed by a box truck. The rocket is good, but its hit rate in the field is a bit low, and the waste is too serious to deal with heavily armored targets, such as the thick planks used by the Xia people in the siege of the city. It is more suitable for defending the city and not suitable for attacking, especially for siege.

What kind of equipment did the Northern Song Dynasty forbidden army originally use to attack the city? Ladders, carts, trebuchets, and sometimes tricks such as digging tunnels. It's not that these siege engines are not easy to use, but they are too big and heavy.

Generally, the key parts are made and carried, and then the wood is processed and assembled when they arrive at the place. Not to mention the laborious and time-consuming, the pressure on logistics alone is enough, so Hong Tao does not plan to copy it.

Wang Datou and the steel plate crossbow they got just reminded themselves that the Northern Song Dynasty used a bed crossbow to shoot huge arrows for the siege soldiers to climb up, and he didn't plan to copy it, but it was still okay to use a giant crossbow to launch gasoline bombs.

In ancient warfare, siege was a time-consuming technical task, often ten days and half a month, and if it was not done well, it would take months or even years. The casualties are even more boundless, and the number of troops is not several times the number of defenders, let alone talk about the siege.

There are many examples in history of storming a fortified city with ten or dozens of times the strength of the defenders. Therefore, Hong Tao did not have the idea of attacking the city by traditional methods, and in his eyes, there was no need to keep any enemy city, and if he did not surrender, he would destroy it, and even destroy the city with people.

The city is dead, and it can be built when it is destroyed. Man is alive, but when he dies, he is really gone. You can't lose more than you lose because the casualties of a broken city are too great.

He felt that it was the easiest way to siege the city with incendiary bombs, and he could already fractionate gasoline and diesel in small amounts, although it was not pure, but it was basically no different when burned, and a little processing was a good siege weapon.

No matter how strong the willpower of the enemy is, it is impossible to really live forever in the flames, even if they are all ***, they will not surrender if they are burned to death, what if they add heavy benzene, a by-product of fractionated petroleum, to gasoline? Do you say that you are not afraid of burning or poisoning? really has such a great ability, the Northern Song Dynasty has long been destroyed, and he can't wait for himself to save him.

In addition to siege cities, this heavy crossbow can also be used to attract key targets from a distance with the troops in the field. I can't say that I can use it as a cannon, but the effect is similar.

"Just prepare two ways to fire, the bowstring for the crossbow and the leather for the thunderbolt. Soon I'll be able to solve the ignition problem of the thunderbolt, and when the time comes, I will just make the shell thicker. ”

The two of them lay on the table, and you said a word and a picture, and soon the general structure and function of a large steel plate crossbow were clearly marked. But Hong Tao felt that it was a bit wasteful to use it as a crossbow, and that it had to be given more functions, such as throwing grenades.

"If only this crossbow could be fixed to the box car...... Wang Datou was also racking his brains and came up with a bolder idea.

With a shock-absorbing suspension system and steel spoked wheels, the carriage was able to carry heavy loads over rough roads, and it was not difficult to keep up with the normal marching speed of the cavalry.

“…… You really deserve to be a big-headed master, this big head is not in vain. The idea is good, and I can go back and try it, but I think the body structure is not enough to support such a large recoil, and the frame that is too heavy will affect the passability, and the gains outweigh the losses. ”

Hong Tao really wanted to reach out and touch Wang Datou's big head, which seemed to be filled with a lot of whimsical ideas. Loading a heavy steel plate crossbow on the chassis of a box car, this Nima is not an 11th-century self-propelled gun, or a howitzer and a flat projectile.

However, Hong Tao is much more rational and knowledgeable than these ancient craftsmen who have just enlightened, and he probably knows the results of many things without experimenting.

This kind of self-propelled crossbow doesn't seem to be realistic, don't look at it as just a crossbow, its recoil is not small at all, and the bigger it is, the more it needs a stable launch platform. Not to mention that it is loaded on a box car, it may not be able to be placed flat on the ground, and it needs to be fixed with ground nails, otherwise you have to move when you shoot an arrow.

In ancient times, there were not heavy crossbows, the Northern Song Dynasty Forbidden Army had them, and there were several on Mawei City. Why aren't they carried all over the ground by recoil? Quite simply, they are weighty, and if you want to be lightweight and easy to carry, you have to find another way.

In the end, Hong Tao did not give a conclusion, but discussed several plans with Wang Datou, including improving the steel crossbow and improving the box car.

The Spring Festival of Yuanfeng's fifth year is approaching, and during this time, Hong Tao is very honest, shrinking in Mawei City to engage in chemical experiment training, except for sometimes taking children to skiing on the nearby mountains, there is no big action.

But this is only a superficial phenomenon, if you are interested, you will find that more and more goods are sent from the various walled forts in Huangzhou to Nanzongbao, and there are more and more sleigh teams from Nanzongbao to Mawei City.

Most of the materials transported were grain and grass, and with the number of garrisons in Mawei City, such a large-scale supply must be abnormal. But no one brought it up, and in Huangzhou, no one dared to wrestle with Lord Shuai Si anymore.

Even Miao Kui, who had always been outspoken, kept his mouth shut, and advanced to the border with the newly arrived Tianwu Infantry Army, blocking all the lines from Nanzong Fort to Ancient Bone Dragon City, and even hunters were not allowed to haunt this vicinity except for the transport team.