Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 220 Crossbow
Huang Zu and Huang Jun, also known as Huang Chengyan, were both legitimate sons of the Huang family, but their relationship was not very good to begin with.
After Huang Zu became the head of the Huang family, Huang Chengyan left home to study in Luoyang, and the two of them became less connected. However, Huang Chengyan's wife passed away while he was studying, and Huang Zu took good care of their daughter Huang Yueying when she was still young. When Dong Zhuo was causing chaos in Luoyang, Huang Jun returned to Jingzhou , and their relationship improved greatly.
However, something happened later that made Huang Jun very dissatisfied, and that was the marriage between Cai and Liu Biao - Huang Chengyan's wife was from Cai's family, and was Cai Jianjia, the legitimate daughter of Cai Feng, and also the elder sister of the current "Mrs. Cai", so Liu Biao was still Huang Yueying's uncle.
Huang Jun was angry and went away to study, and he was unable to see his wife for the last time, which he always regretted. Before marrying Liu Biao, Madam Cai and Cai Shuang had begged Huang Jun to reject the marriage. After all, no matter how handsome and talented Liu Biao was, he was already 48 years old when he came to Jingzhou, his son was older than Cai Shuang, and his first wife had only been dead for a few years.
After accepting the commission, Huang Jun began to move among the Cai, Huang, and Kuai families in Nanjun. After all, although it was called a marriage, it was actually just a "ritual" for the Nanjun families to join forces with Liu Biao and seize the interests of Jingzhou .
However, in the end, not only did he fail to convince his father-in-law and brother, but also... everyone knew that Huang Jun had a stubborn temper and was afraid that he would cause trouble, so they pretended to agree. Huang Jun therefore told Cai Shuang not to worry.
As a result, Cai Shuang eventually married Liu Biao, and Huang Jun was even unaware of this on the wedding day. When he saw Cai Shuang looking at him with resentment, Huang Jun was stunned.
Afterwards, Huang Jun took Huang Yueying away from the Huang family's land and settled in Nanyang. He had no contact with Huang Zu for seven or eight years.
When Huang Yueying heard that Huang Zu was in trouble, she was the only one who came quietly, and... just by chance.
It’s just… Although Huang Zu knew some of Huang Yueying’s strange stories, he hadn’t seen her for two years, and had not had much contact with her in the past seven or eight years. Now Huang Yueying is only seventeen years old. In Huang Zu’s eyes, she is still that yellow-haired girl, so naturally he doesn’t think she can help in any way.
"I heard that the reason why uncle was defeated by the General's Mansion, lost his heart in fear, trembling with fear, and in such a miserable state... was because he lost on the ship?" Huang Yueying asked in one breath.
"If you have something to say, just say it! No need to use so many adjectives!" Huang Zu couldn't help but say angrily.
"Then I have a way to reduce some of your disadvantages." Huang Yueying continued without caring.
"What? Do you have the blueprints for the tower warship?" Huang Zu's eyes lit up at first, but then he shook his head and sighed, "No, what's the use of having the blueprints now? It's too late to build it..."
"No, what we can build in time is not ships... but crossbows! That old guy with a pretty face is quite generous. Uncle, you have a lot of ready-made bowstrings, bow arms, and ordinary crossbow mechanisms here, right? " Huang Yueying asked.
"Don't learn from your father! So rude... What do you mean by 'old thing'? That's your uncle!" Huang Zu scolded.
"Eh? Did I say it was Liu Biao?" Huang Yueying pretended to look around.
"You already said 'pretty boy', who else could it be?" Huang Zu said seriously.
However, Huang Yueying had already gone to take the cakes from the guest seat, and then... she lifted up the veil that originally covered her eyes, so that it was turned upside down over her eyes, revealing the lower half of her face, and then stuffed cakes into the exposed mouth.
Huang Zu: ...
Huang Zu was no longer surprised by his niece's occasional confusing behavior.
"The firing speed of a crossbow is not as fast as that of a shortbow, and the range is not as long as that of a longbow... In fact, the cliffs on both sides are equipped with heavy crossbows and stones. But as long as the enemy's infantry fights in coordination and cannot form a pincer attack, Jiangxia will be in danger, and the Huang family will be in danger!" Huang Zu said, looking at Huang Yueying.
The latter also knew that her uncle was not expecting her, but hoped that her father would come back.
"Uncle, you're done, are you? I think with Mr. Bai's character, if Jiangxia falls into his hands, the people will be so happy that they won't even have time to express their happiness. The Huang family will not perish because of you, so you can rest assured." Huang Yueying rolled her eyes.
Although Huang Yueying had a good relationship with her uncle when she was a child, otherwise she would not be here now, but... the one who has a better relationship with her is her aunt.
"You..." Huang Zu suspected that she was deliberately trying to make him angry.
"Didn't I tell you that you can use my crossbow to temporarily match the enemy's ships on the water. If you still can't hold on like this, then... well." Huang Yueying didn't say much, but handed the blueprint to Huang Zu.
"What's the use of having more crossbows? You haven't seen the tower ship. It can carry soldiers and fire arrows five or six times faster than a warship, and it is more sturdy..." Huang Zu still complained.
However, after looking at the "How to Use" column on the blueprint, Huang Zu's eyes lit up and he said, "Can it fire seven times in a row? Really?"
"We can fire up to twelve shots in a row, but Jiangxia's crossbows are made of poor quality materials, and there's no time to remake them, so we have to modify the existing bowstrings, mechanisms, and crossbow arms. Seven shots is already the limit," said Huang Yueying.
Upon hearing this, Huang Zu stood up and walked around the military tent twice. He then called his lieutenant and asked him to send the drawings back to Echeng and supervise the construction urgently, using all available manpower. If it was not enough, he would have to overdraw immediately!
Huang Zu could not build the Wu-ya warship.
Rebuilding a battleship with the same firepower? It's too late!
However, being able to use a crossbow to increase the firepower of a single soldier several times can also achieve a similar effect...
"The crossbow box is complicated to manufacture, so it takes a long time to load arrows. After the mechanism is triggered once, seven arrows will be shot into the air continuously without being able to stop midway, and the accuracy is very poor. In addition... the mechanism wears out very badly. After about ten uses, it may get completely stuck, which is especially obvious after twenty uses. The maximum service life is no more than thirty times." Huang Yueying listed the weaknesses of the repeating crossbow one after another.
"It doesn't matter. Now is not the time to talk about this." Huang Zu understood that only by delaying it first can there be a "future".
"No, I want to tell my uncle that I will watch from behind and see if there is anything worth improving." Huang Yueying said.
Huang Zu always felt like he had become a test subject, but at this time he had no other choice.
"By the way! Uncle , I'm here to help you. If my father comes looking for me later, you can't burn the bridge after crossing it." Huang Yueying reminded.
"Don't worry, your father won't be able to find me." How could Huang Zu not know that Huang Jun would not see him at all.
"That would be the best..." Huang Yueying muttered softly.
Huang Zu felt something was wrong and suspected that there might be something else going on - Huang Yueying had been raised freely when she was a child, and her father should not have disciplined her too much.
Back then, Cai Shuang's marriage to Liu Biao was a unanimous decision made by several major aristocratic families in Nanjun, not to mention that it was Cai Feng who personally pushed for it. However... because of this incident, Huang Yueying and he no longer had the intimacy they had in their childhood, so he didn't ask any more questions.
On the other hand, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had already called up their troops again, this time advancing by land and sea. The infantry and cavalry on land had also caught up, and were setting up camps step by step, as if they were going to completely capture Jiangxia...
