Qin Official

One day in late January, there was still a hair-thin spring rain outside. Hei Fu and Feng Jing were standing outside the tall warehouse in the west of Ying County. Looking around, they saw that this place was like a city within a city, with thick walls as high as It was two feet long and about two hundred paces wide. The walls were surrounded by warehouses and were stationed with five hundred county soldiers.

"The history of Cao Bing and Feng Zu, this is the arsenal of Ying County."

As a lieutenant, Man also belonged to the county lieutenant system. After Heifu officially started work in late January, he was transferred over and was responsible for familiarizing Heifu and Feng Jing with the business. The business of Zuo Bing Cao Shi, in addition to the recruitment and training of soldiers after spring plowing, is also responsible for the selection of military attaches in the county, military registration, weapons, military orders, etc. Zuo Shi serves as the official secretary of Baishi who is directly subordinate to the county captain. , you also need to understand the above operating modes, so you can go with them.

Looking at this huge arsenal, Heifu couldn't help but sigh: "It is indeed much larger than the county arsenal in Anlu."

He looked at Feng Jing: "Feng Zushi, is the Xianyang arsenal much bigger than this?"

"It's natural."

After Hei Fu's "prediction" of Wang Jian's military strength that day, Feng Jing did not dare to underestimate him anymore, and replied with a smile: "The Xianyang Arsenal is located on the side of Xianyang Palace and is garrisoned by guards. It is three or four times larger than the Nanjun Arsenal." , the number of soldiers, armor, chariots and carriages hidden has also increased four to five times!”

While he was talking, the arsenal officer here had already brought people over, saluted Heifu and Feng Jing, and welcomed them in.

Once inside, Hei Fu realized that the wall here was much thicker than the outside. The bottom of the wall alone was as thick as four feet! Nearly ten meters!

But if you think about it carefully, you will understand that the arsenal is the most important place in a city. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when there were internal strife, rebellions, and uprisings among the countrymen, the arsenal was always the primary target. Seize the arsenal first and obtain ordnance in order to be more effective in the battle. Gain equipment advantages.

In war, destroying the enemy's arsenal is also an important means to defeat the enemy. The fire attack chapter in the volumes of "Wu Sun Tzu" that Li You lent to Heifu said that there are five forms of fire attack, one is to burn the enemy's soldiers and horses, the second is to burn the enemy's food and grass, and the third is to burn the enemy's baggage. , the fourth is to burn the enemy's warehouses and arsenals, the fifth is to burn the enemy's transportation facilities...

Under this circumstance, the State of Qin set up the Xianyang arsenal in the palace area, and the arsenal in Nanjun was also heavily guarded, with three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry, so that it was under strict defense, not only to avoid being exploited and destroyed, but also You can quickly arm the army with troops and armor at any time.

The Nanjun arsenal is divided into three parts, namely vehicles, armor and soldiers.

The first thing Heifu and the others entered was the most extensive garage, which contained thousands of passenger cars, all neatly placed in various garages.

Looking along the way, we can see that the shapes and types of various vehicles are different: there are "general military vehicles" used as command vehicles, ram vehicles used for siege, light vehicles used to attack the enemy, and military supplies such as ordnance, rations, and uniforms. It is a heavy-duty vehicle, including a theater vehicle with command flags, a drum vehicle to boost morale, a "flying carriage" that can be raised and lowered to detect the enemy's situation, an honor guard vehicle, and even many military instruments.

Heifu was no stranger to these chariots. During the Battle of Chu, he saw them frequently in the military camp. They lie here quietly during peacetime, and are maintained and painted by specialized people. Once wartime comes, they can just hitch the horses from the Yunmengze Stables and gallop on the battlefield.

While Heifu was wandering around the garage asking questions, Feng Jing also reviewed the garage booklet, which registered every car in the warehouse. If someone borrows or damages it, it must be registered and reported. If the verification is not true, the warehouse official will be punished. Heavy penalties!

"Various types of carriages, totaling 774 rides."

Heifu also took a look and asked: "Last year there were more than a thousand chariots, but this year there are only more than seven hundred chariots left. Where did the three hundred chariots go?"

The treasurer was a little embarrassed: "Last year, three hundred vehicles were sent to Nanyang County for use in the attack on Chu, but they were never returned..."

It turned out that the defeat was still to blame, and Hei Fu was a little helpless. After a defeat, in addition to the many casualties of captains and soldiers, all kinds of ordnance and equipment, especially chariots and carriages, were easily discarded. In the battle against Chu, the Qin army lost at least a thousand chariots. It goes without saying that most of them were captured by the Chu army and became the enemy.

Next, there is the armor warehouse. The most numerous ones are the leather armors, the standard equipment of Qin army soldiers. They are piled up like mountains. The collection book records that there are a total of 10,000 pairs in the warehouse. In addition, there are ten thousand pairs of armor, nearly a thousand bronze armors, three thousand skinned shields, and even four hundred pairs of vests for chariots and horses.

Finally, there was the arsenal. Heifu discovered that the weapons in the storehouse were indeed mostly bronze soldiers. Although there were iron weapons, there were not many. In addition to the ordinary swords, daggers, spears, and halberds, Heifu also paid special attention to the reserves of chief spears and barbarian spears.

"In the Battle of Linyang, the Chief's Spear was the key to turning defeat into victory for our army."

Looking at the slender spears stacked neatly on the wooden frame, Heifu couldn't help but sigh. Without this sharp weapon that day, their casualties might have been even more severe.

After the inspection, Feng Jingyi said with emotion: "No wonder it is said in the Art of War that if you raise an army of one hundred thousand, the materials of glue and paint, and the support of chariots and armors will cost thousands of gold per day. The chariots and armors in Nanjun's arsenal can only be equipped with twenty thousand soldiers." The remaining people are so vast and numerous, I really can’t imagine..."

He looked at the people next to him, approached Heifu and said, "I can't imagine how many vehicles, armor and weapons are needed to equip 600,000 people."

"It's probably enough to empty the arsenals of all the counties and counties in the Qin State." Heifu smiled. He was the same. In the army before, they just picked up weapons to fight. Now they serve in the Bingcao and start to engage in organizational work. Only then did I realize that starting a war is really difficult.

No wonder there is such a theory: the organization and conduct of war are important factors that promote the development of human social organizational forms in a more effective direction.

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, frequent wars have transformed the political power of various countries. This is the reform movement. Under the auspices of Shang Yang, the Qin State has transformed into the most complete and most adaptable to war. After being tempered by wars, this country has turned into a machine born for war, and every subject is a particle in the machine. Small screws, and Heifu is no exception.

…

That night, Heifu and Feng Jing informed Li You of the results of the inspection of the arsenal.

"I dare to tell you that because of the first battle against Chu, many chariots and armors from Nanjun were sent to the north to equip soldiers and were lost on the battlefield. Therefore, there are deficiencies in every warehouse, especially weapons. Nearly half!”

Li You took the booklet Feng Jing used to record the data, but saw that the chariot gap was about three hundred times, the breastplates and stock armors each needed five thousand pairs, and the shields needed to be made two thousand more.

The biggest need is actually weapons, because chariots are only used by chariot soldiers, and the soldiers in the back row do not need to wear armor, but weapons are indispensable to everyone. Without weapons, soldiers are like beasts without claws. You can't break a tree to make a soldier and use a pole to make a flag...

"The three most commonly used styles of swords, spears, and spears require two thousand each. Bows and crossbows also need one thousand each. The most troublesome thing is the arrows, which require at least two hundred thousand!"

At this time, Heifu finally understood why the ancients made up the story of "borrowing arrows from a straw boat". When the battle was about to begin, the bow and crossbow officer had no arrows. To shoot out 100,000 arrows, it can be seen that it consumes a lot of money. Not every arrow can be recovered, especially when you lose the battle...

Fortunately, it was only the end of January, and Qin expected the war to begin in the autumn, so they still had half a year to prepare.

"The workshops in Nan County are afraid that they will have to work all night." Li You was very distressed. Before he came, he was ambitious. After he came, he discovered that being in charge of military affairs in a county requires more than just training troops. He also did not expect , a failed battle against Chu actually caused such heavy losses to Nanjun's arsenal.

There is no mechanized production these days, everything is purely handmade. Even if there are tens of thousands of slaves and concubines in Nanjun's workshop, it is not easy to make up for the lack of vehicles and armor in the arsenal within half a year.

Fortunately, the natural conditions in Nan County are good, and the raw materials for making vehicles and armor can basically be obtained locally.

Mozi once said that there are clouds in Jingjing, rhinoceros and elk are full of them, and there are long pines, wenzi and Nanyuzhang. All kinds of wild animals can be hunted, and the leather can be peeled off to make armor, and all kinds of wood can be used to make armor. Chariots and arrow shafts. The ducks, geese, and poultry kept by ordinary people, as well as the waterfowl flying everywhere in Yunmeng Ze, are also natural arrow feather materials.

At this point, this war has affected more than just the 30,000 soldiers who will be recruited and sent to the front line. The craftsmen and concubines in the workshop must work overtime. Hunters, merchants, farmers, and 150,000 households in Nanjun will all be mobilized by the government to either collect military supplies or work hard to farm and store military grain...

"Wood, feathers, etc. are all okay." Li You thought for a moment and said, "What I'm most worried about is copper and iron. If the copper and iron are not good enough, even if it takes half a year, the weapons and arrow clusters still can't be made. If the copper is transported from other places, It consumes too much.”

Thinking like this, he made a few remarks: "Tomorrow, you two will follow me to visit the Tongguan office on Mount Ji!" "Wei!"

Hearing that Li Youzai was worried about the output of copper and iron, Hei Fu had an idea in his mind...