"So this is the ballista!" Sun Ce said. After the defeat of Wan Cheng, he still didn't know how to face Zhou Yu! Therefore, after the defeat, he directly returned to Kuaiji. There was still one of his main forces here.
"Yes, big brother!" On the side stood a handsome young man. He looked very similar to Sun Ce, but he lacked Sun Ce's masculinity. Instead, he gave off a feminine feeling. If Sun Ce was a sword's edge, then this young man was the scabbard of the sword. He completely covered the edge of the sword and did not reveal the slightest bit of the sword.
This person was Sun Quan! Sun Zhongmou, life and death are as Sun Zhongmou said. This was the youth in front of him. Counting this year, he was only 18 years old. He should be at the age of going to school. In the modern world, he would be someone who just entered the college entrance examination. However, what you didn't know was that Sun Zhongmou had already been the county magistrate for more than two years. Under his governance, Qiantang County could be said to be thriving. Just the taxes alone were more than double that of Yuhang, Wucheng, and Fuchun. Moreover, Sun Quan was also very good at using people. His big brother Sun Ce once said that if the people of Jiangdong were to compete with the people of the world, you are not as good as me; if the people of Jiangdong were to do their best to protect Jiangdong, I am not as good as you.
When Qiantang County Magistrate was the county magistrate, Sun Quan began to develop the talents and the children of the aristocratic families. Under his command, Sun Quan established a small Jiangdong group. The people in this group were basically talented people. There were Lu Su, Bu Deng, Zhuge Jin, Yan Xue, Lu Meng, Ling Cao, and Ding Feng. The gathering of these talents was the key for Sun Quan to control Jiangdong in the future.
Sun Quan looked at his big brother Sun Ce with a complicated expression. This big brother was too outstanding. In his twenties, he was already a warlord who controlled Jiangdong and Wuyue. If it was during the Warring States period, he would be a national military figure. It should be known that Sun Ce was not like Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang. He was a true self-made man. Starting from his father, Sun Jian, in the hands of Huang Zu in Jiang Xia, then to Yuan Shu, then to Fengxian, which allowed him to leave Yuan Shu and defeat Wang Lang, Yan Baihu, Liu Yao, and finally to pacify Jiangdong. These were all done by this big brother. It could be said that after the death of his father, Sun Ce, it was his big brother, Sun Ce, who carried the burden of the whole family. It was also his big brother, Sun Ce, who gave them such a good living environment.
If Sun Quan was just an incompetent person, then there would be no problem. At least with the existence of his big brother, Sun Ce, there would be no problem for Sun Quan to live a life of glory and wealth. However, the problem now was that Sun Quan was also very outstanding. He was not worse than his big brother, Sun Ce. Even in Jiangdong, many old people thought that Sun Quan should sit on the throne because Sun Ce only knew how to fight but did not know how to govern the country. The strength of rewards and punishments was also not clear enough. If it were not for the help of Zhou Yu, who knows how many complaints would have been made. Sun Quan was different. He was gentle and polite to everyone. He was clear about rewards and punishments. He was not as impulsive and emotional as Sun Ce. The most important point was the attitude of Sun Ce and Sun Quan towards the nobles. Sun Ce was a general. Like Lü Bu, he did not like those nobles. If there was an opportunity, Sun Ce believed that Sun Ce would also choke those nobles to death like Lü Bu. Therefore, his attitude towards the nobles was very tough.
For example, during the Battle of Wancheng city, after the nobles were sent to the top of the city wall, Sun Ce wanted to use Lu Bu's Army to eliminate all of them and then annex the rest of the soldiers. Unfortunately, Sun Ce's plan did not succeed. More than half of the nobles survived. They may not have thought much about it before, but after the battle, they will realize it. This is because Sun Ce also killed the nobles' trusted aides in the camp. What is he trying to do? He is killing them to silence them! Sun Quan's attitude towards the nobles was much better. Perhaps Sun Quan was more suitable for politics. In the eyes of the nobles, Sun Quan was the kind of person who was very friendly to them. In Qiantang, they realized that Sun Quan would never touch anything that belonged to the nobles. He would even give some of the positions of power to the nobles! When the two were compared, the nobles were naturally moved!
"Big brother, big brother, why do I have to appear after you!" Sun Quan sighed in his heart. No matter how good he was, as long as his big brother existed, Sun Quan would always stand behind him. But he didn't want to! His big brother, Sun Quan helplessly shook his head.
"How is the power? How many steps can you shoot from? " Sun Ce asked several questions in a row. This cannot be blamed on Sun Ce, because the Jiangdong Army had suffered too many losses in front of this thing. He was almost killed, the death of Hei Long and the 30,000 navy were all caused by this thing in front of him! Now that this weapon is in Sun Ce's hands, how can he not use it?!!!!
"Power! Big brother, come with me! " Sun Quan was indeed Sun Quan. After he obtained the ballista's blueprint, the ballista he made was different from the ones made by Liu Mang and the others. This was because he installed wheels under the ballista. This ballista that was originally difficult to move suddenly became mobile. This type of ballista could not only be installed on ships, but could also be equipped for cities. If a few of them were placed on a city gate, it would definitely make the enemy drunk. Sun Quan directed the troops to push the ballista to an open space. There was a target a few hundred meters away from the open space. This was what Sun Quan wanted to show Sun Ce.
"One hundred steps!" Sun Quan shouted to the soldiers standing opposite him. The soldiers nodded and quickly began to prepare. They placed the target in the space of one hundred steps. Behind the target, there were thick wooden planks and straw. There was even a huge shield in front of the target. The scarecrows were also wearing armor.
After everything was set up, the soldiers on the other side raised the flag in their hands, indicating that they were ready to shoot.
"Release!" Under Sun Quan's command, a bowstring was quickly released from the ballista. A huge arrow like a meteor crossed the sky and shot towards the shoulder of the soldier who was a hundred steps away. Sun Quan selected a marksman. He also knew that if he wanted to shoot accurately, he had to let a professional marksman do it.
"Whoosh!" This was the sound of the air being torn apart. The speed of the huge arrow was very fast, much faster than an ordinary arrow. Because of the size of the arrow, it felt much heavier.
"Boom!" The huge arrow plunged into the target. The first layer in front of the target was a huge shield. This huge shield was a standard weapon. Although it was not as strong as the alloy shield in the hands of Liu Mang's City Guard, it could still withstand arrows from a bow. Only a projectile could hurt the soldiers and horses through the gaps! This kind of huge shield was used to defend against falling wood and rolling stones during a siege. Its defensive strength could be imagined!
And now, the giant shield that could cover 80% of a person's body had a large hole in the middle. The iron sheet in front of the shield was torn apart, and the giant arrow didn't slow down at all as it flew towards the target. The second time was the general's armor. Since this armor was made of iron, it couldn't block the power of the giant arrow. Although the tip of the arrow was bent, the giant arrow still penetrated it. Behind the armor was a thick wooden plank. The thickness of the wooden plank was the same as the ones on the ships. Moreover, in order to show the power of the ballista, Sun Quan added another layer and wrapped it with iron sheet. But in the end, what was the result? Sun Quan didn't expect that the ballista would be so powerful.
However, in the end, the thick wooden plank was directly torn apart along with the iron sheet. Iron shavings and wood chips flew everywhere. The target was also sent flying by the impact. There was even an unlucky soldier who did not react in time and was skewered by the huge arrow. His entire chest was pierced through. No matter how hard the bones were, the armor could not be harder than the iron sheet! Before he could react, he died an unnatural death!
The death of a soldier did not bring any emotional fluctuations to the two brothers of the Sun family. In fact, due to the cover up of this Enlightened Master, Sun Ce's eyes flashed. "This is it! This is the power! No, no, it is even more terrifying than that! " When Sun Ce was targeted by the ballista, it was under the control of Huang Xu. Huang Xu had a natural eagle's eye, so Sun Ce could feel that although the accuracy of the ballista was much higher than the one in front of him, the power was not as strong as the one in front of him. The huge shield, armor, and thick wooden plank were all shot through. If it was the ballista in front of him at that time, Sun Ce probably would not have been able to block it. Just like that, Oolong died and the Overlord Spear of Western Chu also cracked.
"Two hundred steps, three hundred steps!" Sun Quan did not immediately reply to his brother's words. Instead, he let the soldiers change the target from one hundred steps to three hundred steps, then four hundred steps! The final result was that everything within three hundred steps could be penetrated. At three hundred and fifty steps, only half of the wooden plank could be penetrated. At four hundred steps, the thick wooden plank could be broken. At four hundred steps, the armor in front of the wooden plank could be broken. At five hundred steps, the armor in front of the wooden plank could not be penetrated.
Sun Quan even experimented with six hundred and seven hundred steps. At that time, he could only break the huge shield. This was enough. Being able to break a huge shield at seven hundred steps might not be useful on a warship, but it was definitely useful in defending a city. Imagine, being able to injure an enemy at seven hundred steps. At a closer distance, the person would be shot into the ground along with the huge shield. The degree of devastation was terrifying to watch.
"Hurry up and forge it!" Sun Ce only had one thought. He wanted Jiangdong's craftsmen to go all out to make this ballista. He did not know about this before, but now that he knew the power of this ballista, he would not let it go. Moreover, this ballista could shoot continuously. Although it could only shoot five arrows, it was still a continuous shot. He now knew why Jiang Qin and Lu Su lost so miserably. With this ballista, even if Sun Ce personally commanded it, they could only die in the Yangtze River. But now, this weapon was in Zhang Zhao's hands.
Four thousand craftsmen and twenty thousand gold! Sun Ce was a little distressed. But when he thought about the power of this ballista, his heart was burning. So what if he had four thousand craftsmen? With this ballista, Sun Ce's navy would be able to move unhindered in the Yangtze River. Now, the twenty thousand gold and four thousand craftsmen were only temporarily lent to Lü Bu. Just wait! Lü Bu, Lü Fengxian, I will make you spit out everything you have swallowed with this ballista!
"That's right! Did that old man Liu Biao also send an envoy to Wan Cheng? " Sun Ce suddenly thought of this. Jiangdong and the Lvbu's Army were already at war, yet they still sent an envoy to negotiate for the ballista. He did not believe that Liu Biao would not be moved.
"Yes, big brother!" Sun Quan nodded. In terms of military affairs, Sun Quan was weaker than Sun Ce. This could be seen from the fact that Sun Ce had never lost to Sun Quan when he took over Jiangdong to the point that Sun Quan had never won a battle. Jingzhou Liu Biao's envoy, Kuai Liang, arrived at Lujiang earlier than Sun Ce's envoy, Zhang Zhao. Because Gan Ning's navy appeared in Jiang Xia's waters and posed a threat to Zhou Yu's navy. Because of this, the Jingzhou soldiers were tempted to form an alliance with the Lvbu's Army and destroy Jiangdong first. Although Lü Bu and Jiang Xia had fought before, people with discerning eyes could see that it was a misunderstanding. It was an unnecessary war because of Huang Zu's precious son, Huang She. If there was no Huang She, Huang Zhong would be the main general, or if Huang Zu personally went to Huangzhou, this misunderstanding could be explained. After all, Lü Bu sent an envoy, but Huang She directly killed the envoy of the Lvbu's Army. This was the reason for the war. Even if there was a misunderstanding, they still had to fight!
Originally, they thought that Lü Bu and Sun Ce had formed an alliance. At that time, Jingzhou was in a state of panic. Although Liu Biao did not participate in the crusade against Dong Zhuo and did not directly confront Lü Bu, from Cao Cao and Liu Bei's experience, he could feel that Lü Bu was a fierce tiger, a tiger that ate people without spitting out the bones. Jiangdong's LittleOverlord had already made Jingzhou defend instead of attack. Now, there was another fierce tiger. Wasn't this just like when it rains, it pours!
In order to prevent the two fierce tigers from tearing him apart, Liu Biao contacted Zhang Xiu in Wancheng. Zhang Xiu was also a fierce general. He had the Xiliang Cavalry left behind by his uncle. Although it was not as good as the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, it was not too bad. After all, when Lü Bu was under Dong Zhuo's command, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and the Xiliang Cavalry often did not see eye to eye. If it was not for Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu restraining them, they would have already fought! Moreover, before Lü Bu killed Ding Yuan, the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and the Xiliang Cavalry had crossed swords!
Although Zhang Xiu in Wancheng City was strong and was under the management of Jingzhou, that was only on the surface. In fact, Wancheng City formed its own faction. They were only using each other. Liu Biao in Wancheng City provided provisions for Wancheng City. A small city like Wancheng City could not support more than 10,000 Xiliang Cavalry and 30,000 infantry! And what Wancheng City gave Liu Biao was to block the north of Jingzhou and help Liu Biao resist the pressure of Cao Cao!
Now that Lü Bu and Sun Ce had joined forces, Liu Biao had no choice but to lower himself and discuss with Zhang Xiu in Wancheng. But in the end, who knew that after capturing Huang She in Huangzhou, not only did Lü Bu not go west to Xinye, but he went east to capture Lujiang. At this juncture, either Sun Ce and Lü Bu did not divide the spoils equally, or Sun Ce's wife had hanged herself. Lü Bu and Sun Ce had completely shed all pretense of cordiality. Finally, someone understood that in Jingzhou, there was no shortage of people who could see through the matter. For example, Mr. Shui Jing, Pang Degong, and those disciples. They were all talented people. With a glance, they could see that this was not an unequal division of spoils. Instead, it was because Sun Ce had used Lü Bu as a tool. In a fit of anger, Lü Bu directly turned hostile.
The Battle of Lujiang really made the Jingzhou nobles laugh. If two tigers were to bite each other, it would be best if one was bitten to death and the other was seriously injured. In the end, it would be Jing Zhou's turn to deal with them! Sure enough, it did not disappoint Liu Biao. The 100,000 Jiangdong Army returned in defeat, relieving a lot of pressure on Jing Zhou. However, the Battle of Wancheng City's Navy made Liu Biao turn pale with fright. This was because the 7,000 strong Lvbu Army Navy was able to send 30,000 elite Jiangdong Navy Soldiers to the bottom of the river. Jing Zhou had the most say about the Lvbu Army's Navy Soldiers because most of the Navy Soldiers were originally from Jiang Xia! With the addition of ordinary recruits, what kind of fighting strength could they have? But now, such a dark horse had appeared. Naturally, Liu Biao had to inquire about it!
When he inquired about it, he was shocked. It was a sharp weapon. That thing was the protagonist of the entire naval battle. The Lvbu Army was not scary because the Lvbu Army could not build ships. Without ships, they would not be a threat to Jing Zhou. No matter how strong Lü Bu was, he would not be able to cross the Yangtze River!
However, if Sun Ce obtained it, it would be different. It would be a devastating blow to Jing Zhou. Therefore, Jing Zhou sent messengers to rescue Huang She and give an explanation to Huang Zu. Huang Zu was a veteran of Jing Zhou and was also loyal to Liu Biao. Secondly, it would be best if they could obtain the ballista. Even if they could not obtain it, they could not let Huang Zu get it. This was Kuai Liang's final mission.
"Jing Zhou Liu Biao also has it!" If only Sun Ce had it, Sun Ce was very confident that he would be able to conquer the entire Jing Zhou within a year. But now, Jing Zhou Liu Biao also had it. This made Sun Ce very unhappy! He began to complain about why the Lvbu Army sold it. He did not think about how he could obtain the ballista if the Lvbu Army did not sell it!
"Big Brother, don't worry. Mr. Zhang Zhao used a thousand blacksmiths in exchange for a month's time!" Sun Quan explained to Sun Ce.
"A month's time?!"
"Yes! The Lvbu Army has already promised that they will not give Jing Zhou Liu Biao the blueprint for the ballista within a month! "Sun Quan told Sun Ce that Zhang Zhao's one month's time was worth it.
"What if the Lvbu Army lied to us?!" Sun Ce frowned and said.
"They won't!" Sun Quan shook his head. This was written in the agreement. If the Lvbu Army lied to them, then they would have broken their promise.
"One month!" Sun Ce lowered his voice. One month's time was neither long nor short. What he needed now was to use this one month's time to bring the greatest benefits to Jiangdong and the greatest damage to Jing Zhou. "Pass down my orders!" Sun Ce suddenly stood up.
"Milord!" Sun Ce became serious. Sun Quan naturally became serious as well. His current identity was Sun Ce's younger brother and Sun Cejun's subject. Therefore, he had to address Sun Ce as Milord.
"Bofu, pass down my orders. I want all the blacksmiths in the Kuiji. No, no!" Sun Ce shook his head. "I want you to inform those nobles. I want them within five days, no, within three days! I want all the blacksmiths in Jiangdong who can make the ballista to appear in the Kuiji. I will give you half a month's time. I want you to load all the ballista onto our warships! " Sun Ce repeatedly tried to reduce the time. Because time was tight, Sun Cejun's navy would gain more benefits if they used the ballista as soon as possible!
If Zhou Yu in Jiangxia used the ballista a day earlier, then the battle in Jiangxia would have been broken. At that time, we would have been able to win the battle in Jiangxia. If we did well, we would have been able to keep Liu Biao's 70,000 navy. After losing 70,000 elites, I want to see how Liu Biao can gather another 70,000 navy. This is what Sun Ce wants! "
"Yes!" Sun Quan nodded. He also knew that his elder brother was anxious. Only by obtaining Jingzhou could their Sun family be in an invincible position. With the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, they could completely rely on the river to stand on their own!
The entire Jiangdong was mobilized. All the nobles gave Sun Quan face. Although there were some complaints, under Sun Quan's command, almost all the craftsmen in Jiangdong gathered in three days to make crossbows and ironware. In a short time, the Kuiji was overcrowded!
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