King of Song

Chapter 347 Sand Table
Lin Zhao in Dashun City didn't know that he had become a prey in the eyes of others, and he didn't know that the danger was approaching.

Perhaps, from the moment he came to the northwest, he was doomed to be in danger.On the battlefield, the sword has no eyes, this is the situation.

What's more, Lin Zhao is currently working on a very important, far-reaching, and very practical thing, and he doesn't care about other things at all.

Jing Sili watched as Lin Zhao kept tossing all kinds of silt, working on a large wooden plate, as if he was piling up something.

"Dongyang, what are you doing?" Jing Sili was really curious and couldn't help asking.

Lin Zhao smiled and said, "Good thing, just wait."

Not only Jing Sili, but also many soldiers of the Song Army were quite curious. They all gathered around, watching curiously, and pointing from time to time.

Slowly, they seemed to see some clues!
The ups and downs on the wooden plate seem to be like some mountains, and some low ravines are like rivers. As for those small square pieces, they must be the representatives of the city.

It must be like this. Everyone looked at it, and they had roughly figured out that the sediment piled up on the wooden plate was more like a geographical map of the mountains and rivers near Gyeongju.

However, it is different from the previous maps. This map is three-dimensional, not a graphic on a plane. It looks more intuitive and clearer.

The geographical conditions of the mountains and rivers are clear at a glance, which is much more convenient than the map for marching and fighting.

"This is Gyeongju?"

"Is this Dashun City?"

"Is this Longshan?"

The soldiers looked at the wooden plates piled up with sand and the related prototypes, and they already got a general idea.

"Dongyang? What is this place? What's the use?" Jing Sili couldn't help but ask.

Lin Zhao smiled and said, "This thing is called a sand table. As for its function, I think you already know it well!"

The sand table is a model made of sand, war chess and other materials according to the topographic map, aerial photo or field terrain, according to a certain proportion.Of course, in ancient times, there was no advanced surveying and mapping technology, and there was no technical means such as aerial telemetry. We could only rely on people's visits and explorations to understand the topographical ups and downs, so as to draw maps.On this basis, Lin Zhao transformed it into a sand table.

Sand table is not a product of modern times, it is also recorded in ancient times.

It is said that when Qin was deploying to destroy the six countries, Qin Shihuang personally studied the geographical situation of each country, and with the assistance of Li Si, he sent General Wang Jian to carry out the unification war.Later, when Qin Shihuang built his mausoleum, he piled up a large terrain model in his mausoleum.The model is not only built with mountains, hills, cities, etc., but also simulates rivers and seas with mercury, and uses mechanical devices to make the mercury flow and circulate. It can be said that this is the earliest prototype of the sand table, with a history of more than 200 years.

There is a record in the "Han Shu Ma Yuan Biography" written by Fan Ye of the Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty: in the eighth year of Jianwu in the Han Dynasty (AD 32), when Emperor Guangwu conquered Tianshui and the local tyrants in the Wudu area, the general Ma Yuan "gathered rice for the valley and pointed out the situation." , so that Emperor Guangwu suddenly had the feeling of "the captive is in my eyes". This is the earliest recorded sand table.

Of course, the more professional and formal sand table was invented by modern Europeans.It was not until World War I that it gradually began to be applied to the military field, and it was widely implemented after World War I.

Now, Lin Zhao was initially involved in the military field, and thinking of doing something for the Song army, the first thing he thought of was to introduce the sand table.

The maps used for marching and fighting in ancient times are very inconvenient. Due to technical means, the maps are very vague and not clear at all.

Especially after the geographical scope is wide, the difficulty and accuracy of drawing maps will continue to decline.Although maps have been used thousands of years ago, the technical means have not been improved, and there has been little progress.

If it’s for normal use, it’s fine, you just need to mark some mountains, rivers and cities, even if there are some errors, it doesn’t matter.But in the military field, it is a completely different matter.

When marching and fighting, a slight mistake will lead to very bad consequences, and the army may be defeated like a mountain, or even completely defeated.The failure of the war means the sacrifice of life and the loss of national interests, which will cause very serious consequences.Especially when it comes to mountain topography and river water sources, these are all crucial factors.

Whether it is setting up a camp or arranging troops, offense and defense are closely related to terrain.The right way is the right time, place and people, and the right place is largely reflected in the understanding and use of the local terrain.Being condescending, it may be easy to break through the opponent's defense.

Knowing that there is a secret path, you may be able to detour to the back and give the opponent a fatal blow. Water is necessary for camping... Sometimes, terrain factors can completely affect the victory or defeat of a battle, and it is a very important factor.

However, the quality of ancient military maps is really not high. In some places, there are even no maps at all, and they rely entirely on the locals as guides, so they directly send troops to fight.There is a way to miss the slightest, but a thousand miles away, a little error and error may lead to very dire consequences.

Under such circumstances, the result can be imagined.The risks involved are self-evident, and sometimes taking risks can win.But many times it may fail because of unfamiliarity with the terrain.

In order to avoid this situation, the best way is to improve the accuracy of the map.Before there is no way to solve it, a large number of scouts are usually sent, on the one hand to detect enemy targets, and to collect information about the terrain of mountains and rivers.But it is difficult to achieve results in a short period of time!

Improving the accuracy of the map is still the most important and direct approach.In this regard, Lin Zhao had ideas, and someone in the Song Dynasty was already trying to solve this problem.

That's right, this person is famous in history, Shen Kuo, the author of "Mengxi Bi Tan"!
When Lin Zhao was in Hangzhou, he had cooperated with Shen Kuo, and they had many contacts with each other.In some science-inspired discussions, shared with each other about the bird's perspective.That is to say, the observation method of aerial photography and telemetry in later generations. Only in this way can errors caused by human detection be avoided.

The most direct use is reflected in the scale. The distance between two places can be measured through the spatial branch line, which can greatly improve the accuracy of the map.

Lin Zhao had a relationship with Shen Kuo before, and now he is already implementing it.Presumably soon after, Shen Kuo’s "Mengxi Bi Tan" records that the distance is as direct as a bird flying in the air, and the practical method of correcting the distance of the six bodies of cartography will be produced and gradually perfected by eliminating the distance error caused by the topography.

In the near future, Shen Kuo will be able to produce the "Map of State and County in the World" (Shou Ling Map), which is a scale of two inches and hundreds of miles, the cubic position, the number of birds flying, and the correction method for checking the undulations of the terrain. It was a very accurate map at the time.

At present, Shen Kuo's map has not yet come out, and even if it comes out, its use in the military field will inevitably be delayed, and its effectiveness is unknown.Lin Zhao couldn't wait any longer. Compared with the flying bird map, he has something more advanced, which is the sand table.

"Sand table?" Jing Sili asked in surprise, "What is this?" Obviously, he had never seen this before, but it was indeed very attractive.

Lin Zhao wiped off the sand from his hands, stood up and said, "Yes, you can see the sand table. This is the topography of the mountains and rivers near Gyeongju. With this, we can see the surrounding mountains and rivers clearly and intuitively." The terrain, whether it is combat or command, is very convenient. It’s just that it has not been fully completed yet, and the information is limited, and the manufacturing is still very rough.”

Jing Sili also saw the effect of the sand table, couldn't help being amazed, nodded and said: "It really is a good thing, not bad!"

Lin Zhao shook his head and said, "Perhaps we don't have much significance in using it, but Wang Zhizhou and Han Xianggong will definitely be interested."

That's right, for Han Jiang, who is the commander-in-chief, and Wang Shao, who directs and coordinates operations in Gyeongju, this is definitely a good thing.For them, the most troublesome thing is that they cannot intuitively grasp the situation of the long border.

Jing Sili nodded and said: "Yes, with this thing, the overall formation of troops can be seen at a glance. It just needs to make a bigger and more comprehensive sand table."

"That's right, it's just that it's a little troublesome to make. This is only around Gyeongju. At present, it only marks the mountains and rivers, but the specific mountain situation, the height of the mountains, and the flow of the river are not clear. I just refer to the previous ones. The map, as well as the discoveries of the scouts, are still not comprehensive enough...

If it expands to the entire northwest at once, even if the sand table is made bigger, more things will be included.All mountains, rivers and rivers will become smaller and more inaccurate, so they still need to be further improved, and it is still difficult to put them into use as soon as possible. "

"What should I do?" It looks like a good thing, but it is difficult to exert its effect for a while, so Jing Sili is inevitably a little anxious.At the same time, I was also very surprised. I didn't expect Lin Zhao to have this kind of talent and ability. It's really amazing.Fortunately, he didn't know about some of Lin Zhao's previous inventions, otherwise he didn't know how much he would be amazed?

Lin Dongyang is indeed a genius!

Lin Zhao pondered for a moment, then smiled and said: "If you can't get in, there is a solution. On the one hand, send scouts to investigate the surrounding terrain, and make detailed records and drawings, so that we can make more detailed maps and sand tables in the future. Besides, I think it is better to Send this thing to Yanzhou, there is a master there, presumably he will have a way."

Yanzhou?

"Yes, that's right!" Lin Zhao nodded slightly, and now Shen Kuo is there, handing over the sand table to him, presumably he will perfect it very well.At the same time, he should also find oil from Daxing and future generations there!
"Scientists of Shenyang University, come on!" Lin Zhao said inwardly, looking forward to the further development of ancient science and technology.

(End of this chapter)