The envoys from various countries were all people who had seen the world. They were quite familiar with the basic equipment of the army, the types of soldiers, and the defensive facilities of the city.
The artillery exercise just now made the envoys understand that as long as the Tang dynasty used artillery to attack a city, no city would be able to withstand it. However, if they fought in the wild, the artillery might not be able to catch up with the cavalry. They could still use tactics to offset the advantage of the Tang dynasty's artillery.
However, the armored artillery vehicles in front of them were extremely fast. They were obviously faster than the cavalry. Moreover, they could chase the enemy while firing powerful artillery shells. In this way, the cavalry, who had dominated the battlefield for thousands of years, would not be able to escape the pursuit of the armored artillery vehicles. Heavy casualties would be unavoidable.
Not only were the cannons extremely fast, but their cannons were also extremely powerful. Their huge bodies could crush all enemies, leaving not even their bones behind. In addition, their bodies were covered in a layer of iron armor, which made them immune to all sword and saber attacks, rendering the enemy powerless.
Its attack power was extremely strong, its defense was extremely strong, and its speed was extremely fast. Such a powerful weapon overturned everyone's impression of weapons. Everyone was racking their brains, but they couldn't think of a way to deal with this kind of armored monster.
"How do your Pyu's war elephants compare to the armored artillery vehicles?"
The Nanzhao envoy looked at the Pyu envoy and asked.
"How can they be compared? Although the war elephants are powerful, they are too cumbersome. They can't run as fast as the cavalry, let alone the armored artillery vehicles. The skin of the war elephants is thicker, but it can't be compared to armor! Most importantly, as long as the armored artillery vehicles fire, the war elephants will be frightened. In this way, not only will they not be able to face the enemy head-on, but they will also run back and mess up their own troops. "
The Pyu envoy described all the weaknesses of the war elephants without any hesitation. This made the Nanzhao envoy who asked the question secretly happy. Nanzhao did not dare to touch the Tang dynasty. In the past, they wanted to steal land but were taught a lesson by Ang Lee. Now that they saw how powerful the Tang dynasty was, they did not dare to touch the Tang dynasty. However, Piloge was always an ambitious person. Since the way to take advantage of the situation in the north was blocked, it was a good choice to go down south and take the Pyu.
Although the Pyu was also a vassal state of the Tang dynasty, the Tang dynasty should have no reason to object if they created some friction and pushed the responsibility to the Pyu to launch a large-scale attack.
"The Tang dynasty has artillery and armored artillery vehicles. In this big world, there is no force that can match the army of the Tang dynasty."
"The Tang dynasty is really great. Not only does it have a splendid and long history, but it also has powerful weapons."
"Long live the emperor of the Tang dynasty. Long live the emperor of the Tang dynasty."
The envoys were once again shocked by the military power of the Tang Empire and hurriedly shouted slogans to express their loyalty.
"Brother Huai Jie, fortunately, these artillery and armored artillery vehicles have just appeared. If they appeared a few years earlier, our tribe would have been wiped out."
Li Yanchong looked at the armored artillery vehicles that were advancing quickly and said calmly.
"That's right! This iron lump runs faster than any horse. Moreover, it is equipped with a powerful artillery. Once it reaches a certain scale, it is not something that our cavalry can fight against. Fortunately, we proposed the marriage alliance in time. Otherwise, we would have ended up like the Turks. "
Li Huai Jie was also shocked and glad that he chose to surrender to the Tang dynasty in time. Otherwise, he would have been wiped out.
"Brother Huai Jie, if An Lushan still doesn't stop, what should we do?"
Li Yanchong suddenly felt a deep worry in his heart.
"A few days ago, didn't you want to kill the princess of the Tang dynasty for a cold beauty? Are you still afraid of An Lushan? "
Li Huai Jie said sarcastically.
"Brother Huai Jie, where are we? Aren't you afraid that the officials of the Tang dynasty will hear you? Do you want to kill me?"
Li Yanchong was very anxious and stared at Li Huai Jie angrily.
"Don't worry. They are all gathered in front of the sand table. They can't hear us. I'm kindly reminding you not to do anything stupid. In particular, you can't offend the imperial court of the Tang dynasty for a cold beauty."
Li Huai Jie explained.
Li Yanchong said discontentedly, "You are avoiding the topic. Let me ask you, if An Lushan keeps pushing us, what should we do?"
"What else can we do? Write a petition to impeach him. If that doesn't work, we can only move to the west. Do you want to fight with the Tang dynasty again?"
Li Huai Jie said helplessly and reminded him, "Serve the princess well in the future. Don't let the imperial court of the Tang dynasty find a reason to attack us."
"Alas! That's the only way. I hope everything goes well in the future. "
Li Yanchong smiled helplessly and walked to the sand table to listen to Ang Lee's explanation of the tactical performance of the armored artillery vehicle.
"Ladies and gentlemen, each armored artillery carriage has five people, two in the front and three in the back. The soldiers in the front are responsible for driving and commanding, while the soldiers in the back are responsible for firing at the enemy while constantly refilling the carriage with fuel. There are one hundred cannonballs in each armored artillery carriage, enough to deal a heavy blow to the enemy. Even if they run out of cannonballs, their massive armor can still crush the enemy infantry and cavalry into meat paste. The armored artillery carriage is powered by charcoal, and when it is filled with charcoal, it can travel one thousand li in one day. It can be completed in one day, and it is not one bit weaker than a thousand-li horse. At present, the armored artillery carriages are being built in batches, and in a few months, fifty armored artillery carriages will be added to the Tang army. At that time, they will be used to protect the Great Tang and the other countries."
Ang Lee exaggerated the performance of the armored artillery vehicle to intimidate other countries with its absolute strength and make them follow the Tang dynasty loyally and not have any disloyalty.
Hearing that the armored artillery vehicle's tactical performance was so powerful, the envoys of other countries were full of admiration and reverence. The small countries that were originally loyal to the Tang dynasty were happy for the strength of the Tang Dynasty, while the small countries that were disloyal to the Tang dynasty began to change their minds. They completely put away their discontent and followed the Tang dynasty in the future.
Of course, a show of force alone would not be enough to subdue these small countries. Besides the deterrence of force, the Great Tang had also proposed many attractive economic cooperation plans, and it had even decided to pave the railway to many of its subordinate countries. In this way, these subordinate countries would be able to make use of convenient transportation to do business with the Great Tang. This was especially true for the many small countries of the Western Regions, who were born to do business. As long as they had convenient transportation, their business would grow, and their desire to submit to the Great Tang would naturally grow stronger.
What people pursue in life is nothing more than benefits. The world is bustling for benefits, and the world is bustling for benefits. There are only eternal benefits in the world, and there are no eternal friends. Only common benefits can make two unrelated people become very good friends.
When the railway was paved to the countries in Anxi in the future and the economic and trade exchanges between the two sides were strengthened, the Tang dynasty and these small countries would surely prosper together. As the exchanges became closer, the two sides would gradually become indistinguishable. Even these small countries would obediently merge into the Tang Empire.
Ang Lee believed that this day would come, starting from the laying of the railway and the promotion of trade.
This artillery exercise could be said to be an unprecedented success. All the envoys who participated in the ceremony saw the powerful strength of the Tang Empire and were full of admiration and fear for the Tang Empire. This was very beneficial for the Tang Empire.
After the exercise was completely over, the envoys of various countries were still a little unsatisfied. Some of them surrounded the sand table and pointed at it. Some even touched the sand table with their hands to understand the materials used to make it.
Some of them hurriedly ran down the viewing platform to take a closer look at the armored artillery vehicles parked not far from the viewing platform.
The mighty and domineering appearance, the hard iron armor, and the terrifying muzzles made the envoys worship the armored artillery vehicles even more after taking a closer look.
Many of the envoys knocked on the armored artillery vehicles with their arms to determine the thickness and firmness of the armor.
"Everyone, if you are interested, you can go inside and take a look. The armored artillery vehicles of the Tang Empire are open to all friends."
Ang Lee came over and said very politely.
In this backward era, except for the Tang Empire, no other country had the ability to make this kind of advanced equipment. Even if they studied it every day, it was impossible for them to copy it. For many small countries, even if you gave them the technology, they did not have enough financial resources and manpower to deploy the entire industrial system needed to make the armored artillery vehicles. Therefore, there was no need to worry about leaks at all.
"That's great. It's not easy to come to the Tang Empire. We must go in and take a look."
Most of the envoys smiled at each other and immediately made a wise decision.
There were several entrances at the top of the armored artillery vehicles. In addition, there was a relatively large small door on the side of the rear, which was reserved for the convenience of transporting the charcoal and shells into the rotating turret. At this time, it became the most convenient entrance for these envoys.
Due to the limited space inside, only a dozen people could enter. The rest of the envoys had to wait for them to get out of the vehicles before they could enter. Many of the envoys were eager to go in and see what was inside the armored artillery vehicles.
"Assistant Minister Li, an ordinary carriage only has two wheels, but this armored artillery vehicle has eight wheels. Moreover, the wheels are wider and bigger. Why?"
An envoy looked curiously at the eight thick iron wheels in front of him and asked the question in his mind.
Ang Lee explained with a smile, "The armored artillery vehicles are huge and heavy. The more wheels, the better to share the load. In this way, the load on each wheel will be less, and the axle will not be easily damaged. In addition, the more wheels and the wider wheels are, the larger the surface area of contact with the ground. This can prevent the wheels from sinking into the mud and also increase the speed of the armored artillery vehicles."
"It turns out that there is so much knowledge behind these small wheels! It's really amazing. "
"It's just a small wheel on an armored artillery vehicle. Our Stone Kingdom can't make it!"
"Assistant Minister Li can make an armored artillery vehicle. It's really amazing."
Many envoys sighed with emotion and did not forget to praise Ang Lee.
"May I ask, Assistant Minister Li, how much does it cost to build such an armored artillery carriage?"
An envoy from the Kang Kingdom asked.
"Well … about ten thousand taels of gold!"
Li An casually gave a rough estimate of the price.
"Ten thousand taels of gold? Is it really that expensive?"
"One vehicle costs ten thousand taels of gold. 50 vehicles will cost five hundred thousand taels of gold. Only the Tang dynasty can afford to equip an armored artillery vehicle!"
"Although the price is a little expensive, it's worth it with the combat power of the armored artillery vehicles."
The envoys began to discuss.
"Click, click, click …"
One of the envoys who was visiting was itchy. He shook the handwheel and made the entire rotating turret turn at a large angle.
"The muzzle can even turn. This way, the attack range will be wider. It's amazing."
"What an amazing armored artillery vehicle. I want to go up and try it later."
During the performance just now, he deliberately did not demonstrate this feature. Now that it was accidentally discovered by these envoys, it once again caused quite a stir.
Li An first explained the principle behind the rotating turrets, which left the envoys confused and disoriented. Then, he explained the huge role that the rotating turrets could play on the battlefield.
In order to let these curious envoys admire the armored artillery vehicle to their hearts' content, Ang Lee left a few technicians to maintain order and warn them of danger. He also told these curious envoys that they could visit for as long as they wanted. They could even take pictures as a souvenir. Of course, there was no photography technology in this era. At most, they could only hire a skilled artist to draw people and the armored artillery vehicle.
Before leaving the practice field, Li An asked his subordinates to bring the new cannon over and demonstrate its precision shooting skills to broaden the horizons of the envoys. If the envoys were brave enough, they could aim the cannon at the target and let the envoys fire it themselves to experience the exhilaration of hitting the target.
An armored artillery vehicle and a new type of cannon attracted the attention of most of the envoys from small countries. They were very interested in watching and experiencing it. They even personally fired a cannonball and hit the target. Of course, more people were there to watch the fun. They gathered in groups of three to five to discuss the power of the armored artillery vehicle and the new type of cannon. There were even fierce disputes because of different viewpoints. The scene was very lively.
After leaving the drill ground, Ang Lee planned to immediately go to the R&D center to give detailed instructions to the craftsmen. However, Zhao Yafu followed him, bringing Li Hanlu and Li Ya 'er with him.
"Big Brother, that armored artillery vehicle, so many cannons, and such a high viewing platform, did you really invent them?"
Li Ya 'er was the closest to him and asked. After not seeing her for so many years, she had become more lively. It seemed that she was not affected by Li Hanlu at all.
"Of course. Many new things in the Tang dynasty were designed and invented by Big Brother. Big Brother is very powerful, isn't he?"
Ang Lee said proudly.
"Yes, Big Brother is really powerful. By the way, Big Brother, are you going back to the palace or the villa now?"
Li Ya 'er continued to ask.
"Neither. Big Brother is going to the R&D center to instruct the craftsmen to invent many useful things."
Ang Lee naturally would not hide it and answered honestly.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
