Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 204
Although Sha Zha Xiangru didn't finish speaking, Fuyu Zhongsheng already understood what his subordinates meant, and he thought for a while: "Forget it, let's send light soldiers to test it first, and send messengers to Zhouliu to report the situation here to the king. !"

"Yes, Prime Minister!"

Two days later.

Although it is already summer, there is still a chill when the morning rain falls on the head.As the former governor, Wang Wenzuo set an example. He was the first to pick up the iron pickaxe to dig the trench. Half of the soldiers put on armor and guarded. The remaining half, like Wang Wenzuo, dug the trench and repaired it. , A fortified camp consisting of ditches, earth barriers, fences, and bamboo sticks has been completed. Tired soldiers of the Tang army are sitting around the campfire. The hot soup is boiling in the iron pot, emitting white smoke.An old soldier stirred the iron pot with a spoon, and began to fill the bowls stretched out with hot soup, and the people who were filled with soup started to eat dry food with the hot soup. For a while, there was a sense of peace in the barracks atmosphere.

Compared with the soldiers, the contents of the iron pot in front of Wang Wenzuo are much richer. There are dried bamboo shoots, dried meat, crushed nuts, and millet. Cooked by the campfire, they exude an attractive aroma.

"After digging for a day, it's a blessing to be able to drink something warm!" Gu Cihang smiled and handed over his copper bowl: "Come on, get a bowl, I'm starving to death!"

"What's the hurry, it's not cooked yet!" Shen Faseng pushed away Gu Cihang's bowl, and stirred the pot with a wooden spoon: "Wait a little longer!"

"It doesn't matter if it's not cooked, you can give it some hot soup!"

Shen Faseng frowned, and was about to say something, when a long horn sounded suddenly from a distance, Gu Cihang dropped the bowl, subconsciously clenched the handle of the knife, and the whole camp erupted.Wang Wenzuo stood up, and as the sound of the horn receded, the wind stopped whistling. The soldiers stood up silently, put down the bowls and chopsticks in their hands, picked up the spears, stringed the bow, and waited silently for the next sound of the horn.

A war horse seemed to be infected by the chilling atmosphere and neighed. The owner of the horse gently stroked the mane of the mount to calm its emotions.For a moment, it seemed that the entire barracks held its breath.

"Let me go and have a look," He Bayong said in a low voice.

"Alright!" Wang Wenzuo nodded, and then laughed loudly: "There has been no second horn for so long. It should be that the sentry outside the camp has encountered the scouts of the bandits. Don't panic! Everyone, sit down and eat! Sit down." Come down!"

The people around the bonfire did not put down their weapons immediately, and after another minute or two, there was still no sound of the horn. After finally confirming that there would be no second sound of the horn, they smiled at each other, as if they were ashamed of their nervousness just now.Shen Faseng picked at the woodpile beside the campfire, found a few that had been completely toasted and threw them in: "The porridge is ready, who wants to serve it!"

People gathered around the bonfire, drinking hot porridge, and whispering to Pao Ze next to him from time to time. Wang Wenzuo was smiling, but anyone familiar with him could tell that he had other thoughts on his mind at this time.After a while, familiar footsteps came from behind, He Bayong leaned down and whispered in his ear: "It's the scout of the thief!"

"Is there anyone alive?" Wang Wenzuo was shocked.

"There is one, but it was shot through the lungs, so I'm afraid it won't work!" He Bayong said in a low voice: "There is something, you'd better join the army and come and see for yourself!"

Wang Wenzuo put down the porridge bowl, got up and left.He Bayong walked in front, talking as he walked: "The thief's scouts probably consisted of more than a dozen people. They came along the mixed woods by the river to the east, and stepped on the bow set by the scouts of the front battalion in advance. It was discovered by our sentries, so the sentries blew their horns in a hurry, and the two sides shot at each other. When the rangers from our front battalion arrived, the sentries got into the woods and escaped. The rangers saw that it was getting late, so they didn't pursue!"

"Our side is a guest army, so it's right not to pursue it!" Wang Wenzuo said, "Just now you said you wanted me to see something, what is it?"

At this time, the two had reached a small open space not far from the main entrance of the camp, where a fire chief was leading four or five soldiers standing there, and when he saw Wang Wenzuo and He Bayong coming, he hurriedly bowed to salute.

"Forget it, give me that arrow!" He Bayong said.

"Promise!" The fire chief hurriedly took a feather arrow from his subordinates, and presented it to He Bayong with both hands, and He Bayong handed the feather arrow to Wang Wenzuo: "Join the army, look!"

Wang Wenzuo took the feather arrow and looked at it. He immediately saw something strange. He took out a feather arrow from his Hu Lu and compared it with this one.

"Why do the arrows used by thieves grow so much? Are all the arrows used by thieves like this?"

"It's all like this!" The fire chief replied: "And these thieves are very accurate in shooting. Four of us were shot!"

Wang Wenzuo nodded noncommittally, and measured the length of the feathered arrows with his palm: "One, two, three... fourteen, a total of fourteen, and the length of the feathered arrows we commonly use is only twelve!" (Weber explained For a moment, the "ba" here refers to the length from the mouth of the tiger to the tip of the little finger after the hand is clenched into a fist, which is a common unit for measuring the length of feather arrows in ancient East Asia)

"Two bows have grown!" He Bayong said in a low voice, "From this point of view, the bows used by thieves should also grow a lot, even ordinary leather armor can't stop them!"

Wang Wenzuo did not speak, but his face was not very good-looking.Generally speaking, the power of a bow and arrow mainly depends on three factors: draw length—the distance from the nock point after the bow is strung to the nock point after the bow is fully drawn, the longer the draw distance, the greater the power; the strength of the bow; the strength of the bow arm. length and shape.The length of the arrow is generally proportional to the length of the saw and the bow arm.The opponent uses longer arrows, and generally speaking, the arrows are much more powerful.

In modern society, archery is already a kind of entertainment and sport, but in ancient times, archery was regarded as the foundation of the country and a compulsory course for scholars. Even Confucian scholars often tested bows and arrows.Many people know that under the imperial examination system in ancient China, as long as you study the Six Classics hard and get a good name, you can immediately change the fate of your family.But I don't know that as long as you can open a strong bow with more than one stone, swing the bow left and right, and gallop your horse to shoot, even in the peaceful years, you can easily be recruited by the frontier generals to be his servants and live a life like a small landlord.This atmosphere is not without reason. The number of archers, especially those who can shoot through armor, is closely related to the strength of military strength.

"The thief has died, and the body is next to him, do you want to see it?" Huo Chang asked boldly.

Wang Wenzuo let out a long breath and nodded.The corpse on the ground was wearing a buckskin jacket with only straw sandals on its feet. Under the thick beard was a face with deep contours. The hair was disheveled and there was a wound on the right chest. Wang Wenzuo tore off his jacket and found his light black body. The skin is covered with chest hair.

(End of this chapter)