Chapter Fourteen: Experimental Crossbow

  Yun Qi originally wanted to continue watching how the soldiers below shot arrows, but was interrupted by a soldier who rushed up from behind.

  "Mr. Yun, His Highness requests your presence."

  "Oh, I see." Since the prince had called for him, Yun Qi thought about it and could only give up, following the soldiers back to the commander's tent.

  He lifted the curtain and found that both Prince and Liao Yun were staring at him intently, making Yun Qi feel a bit embarrassed. He rubbed his nose, cleared his throat, walked into the tent, sat down across from Liao Yun, and waited for the prince to speak.

  "Yun Qi, Gu just spoke with Deputy Commander Liao about some matters and informed him of the bow and crossbow situation. He is now full of expectation."

  It turned out to be this matter. Facing Liao Yun's expectant eyes, Yun Qi had long been prepared and took out the bow and arrow from his pocket and handed them over.

  Liao Yun looked at the exquisite yet complex crossbow in his hand, turning it over left and right but not knowing how to use it. He chuckled foolishly and asked Yun Qi, "Brother Yun, you said this crossbow is truly that amazing? Can it really give children the skill of hitting targets a hundred paces away?"

  Liao Yun didn't believe it and had a good reason for it, just like the crown prince who saw it earlier was also very skeptical. Firstly, people in this era had never seen a crossbow before, although in Cloud Seven's world, crossbows appeared as early as the Warring States period. In this completely disconnected and hollowed-out ancient times, although they had developed to iron tools, they were still backward in terms of weapon equipment. This was also something that Cloud Seven only understood after being in this world for a long time. Secondly, it was precisely because they had never seen a crossbow and were only used to using bows and arrows, the size difference between the two was too great, Liao Yun couldn't believe that this small crossbow could have the power that Cloud Seven said.

  "Heh heh, talk is cheap, General Liao. If you don't believe me, go outside and try it out for yourself."

  Yun Qi wasn't worried, in his eyes, the crossbow was still a backward product. If he were to bring out that M200 sniper rifle he had been keeping at the Yang residence, the two people before him would probably be more than just stunned. He suddenly realized that he hadn't brought any crossbow arrows this time, and ordinary bow arrows were too long, so he opened his mouth again: "General Liao, I wonder if you could give me a few bow arrows? A few days ago when I left home to gather people, I forgot to bring the special crossbow arrows for this crossbow, so I want to modify a few bow arrows."

  Liao Yun immediately stood up, walked to the door and lifted the curtain, giving some orders to the soldiers outside. Before long, a soldier brought in a bundle of at least one hundred bows and arrows. Liao Yun took the bows and arrows, dismissed the soldier, and put the entire bundle in front of Yun Qi, saying with a grin: "Brother Yun, is this enough? If not, I'll have them bring more."

  "Enough, enough!" Yun Qi's forehead broke out in a cold sweat. How long would it take to do this hundred? Originally, he had only meant to take up ten or so, but unexpectedly, it was an entire bundle. He pulled one out from the middle, compared its length with his hand, then took out an engraving knife from his bosom and, according to old habits, first placed it on the arrow groove of his crossbow to compare lengths, then used the engraving knife to make a mark. Then he took out over ten more and made similar marks, leaving only cutting and polishing left.

  The prince and Liao Yun were watching the movements of Yun Qi's hands carefully, they saw that Yun Qi had thrown away all the arrows used for navigation, and they were puzzled in their hearts. Seeing Yun Qi's serious appearance, they did not disturb him, everything would be said when the truth was revealed.

  After a while, Yun Qi took a deep breath and wiped the engraving knife on his clothes corner with a relieved expression. He put it back in his pocket and picked up more than ten arrows that had been modified from bow arrows to crossbow arrows. With some pride, he said: "It's done, these are the special crossbow arrows for the bow and crossbow. Shall we go out and try them?"

  The prince and Liao Yun could no longer hold back, stood up first, lifted their feet and walked out. On the contrary, the owner of the crossbow was left behind, shaking his head and smiling, and Yun Qi also followed him out.

  The three of them did not go directly to the school field this time, as there were too many soldiers training there and it was inconvenient. This was just an experiment. Liao Yun took them to a quiet place next to the city wall, where there was a small open space, and in the corner of the wall stood an archery target, with some weapon racks beside it, filled with knives, guns, clubs and sticks. Seeing the curiosity on the faces of the prince and Yun Qi, Liao Yun somewhat embarrassedly opened his mouth to say: "Your Highness, Yun brothers, this is my private place for practicing martial arts, please forgive me."

  Yun Qi looked around and thought to himself: As a general, he still has his own private space. It's not bad for him to practice archery and wield swords alone here from time to time. However, Yun Qi did not agree with this approach. He believed that if an officer could eat, live and train together with the soldiers, it would not only increase their cohesion but also greatly boost their morale.

  At this time, the prince said to Yun Qi: "Yun Qi, there is no one here, and just now General Liao mentioned your appointment."

  Yun Qi's face turned pale, and he secretly cursed his bad luck, thinking that he had spoken too rashly earlier. Alas! It seemed that from now on, he couldn't just blurt out whatever came to mind. Thinking this, he maintained a respectful attitude, waiting for the prince's next words.

  The crown prince said, "I originally wanted to let you lead the training of the entire Eastern Imperial Guard, but after discussing with General Liao, I felt it was too abrupt. So I decided to make you a husband and let you be in charge of a hundred-man team. As for which team, it's up to General Liao to decide."

  Yun Qi let out a sigh of relief, since he had decided to follow the prince, getting a official position was only a matter of time. Fortunately, he wasn't in charge of 2,000 people, otherwise he would have been driven mad by the workload. A hundred-man squad was equivalent to a company commander in later generations, which was a significant position. Although it wasn't a high-ranking position, it was an officer with real power. In comparison, having fewer people made management relatively easier, and Yun Qi was happy to accept this role.

  Liao Yun took over the prince's words and said: "Cloud brothers, oh no, from now on we are just colleagues. I'm Liao, so I'll be a bit presumptuous and call you Cloud younger brother. In public, you can call me Commander Liao, Deputy Commander Liao, General Liao, or whatever is fine. Privately, you can call me Big Brother Liao, or just Brother Liao. Let's talk about the hundred-man squad you'll be in charge of next. I plan to give you the strongest hundred-man squad within the Eastern Imperial Guard. Younger brother, this squad will take up half of our entire elite soldiers! I hope you won't disappoint His Highness's kindness!"

  Having many years of military career, Yun Qi knew that this matter was not as easy as it seemed on the surface. As the saying goes, the strongest soldier is also the most difficult to lead. To be a strong soldier! The king of soldiers! Must have personality. Take the previous world for example, the hot broadcast of "Soldiers Sortie" Xu Sanduo on TV, this can only happen in TV performances. Soldiers like this who are foolish and don't think, just want to work hard, at most can only be considered a good soldier. If you want to enter the special forces directly under the military region like Lao A, there is no chance, it's extremely slim. However, leading soldiers for Yun Qi was not a difficult problem, he replied: "Just listen to your and Liao Da Ge's arrangement, Yun Qi will do as told."

  The prince heard Yun Qi's guarantee and was delighted in his heart. He hurriedly urged, "Then let's try the power of the bow and crossbow quickly."

  Yun Qi responded with a sound, walked to about fifty steps away from the target, pressed the crossbow bolt into the arrow groove, and explained: "First, put the crossbow bolt into the arrow groove, pull the bowstring tight, look carefully, your arm should be level and straight, then close the eye opposite to the hand you are using, next aim at the protruding point on the crossbow with your eyes, and then along the protruding point aim at the red heart on the target, just like me." Yun Qi finished speaking, carefully aimed at the distance and target, his index finger slowly moved towards the trigger.

  Yun Qiqi held her breath, not thinking about anything in her mind, only engraving the red heart on the target opposite her into her brain, adjusting her state to the best, and then her index finger decisively pulled the trigger.

  "Whoosh...... Puff...... Slap"

  Only saw the crossbow arrow force and flew, only saw a residual shadow in "whoosh" just passed and shot into the target, but the force did not decrease directly penetrated the bullseye and hit the city wall.

  Silence...

  Extremely quiet...

  Yun Qi naturally dropped his arm and turned around to see the prince and Liao Yun, who looked like they had been struck by a magic spell, their mouths wide open in an unbelievable expression. It took them a long time to come back to their senses. The prince hurriedly walked forward, heavily patting Yun Qi's shoulders with both hands, his eyes shining with excitement as he exclaimed: "Yun Qi, you truly surprised me! Your invention of this crossbow is too powerful! You are my lucky star! If the Southern Kingdom's army were all equipped with this crossbow, their combat strength would increase by far more than just one level! It's great... it's... it's... I am truly... truly..."

  Liao Yun, although not as excited as the Crown Prince, was also trembling with both hands. Cloud Seven's bow and arrow, with a hissing sound in his mouth, said: "Cloud brother, you are indeed a divine person! Your invention can reduce the loss of half of our soldiers in battle!"

  Yun Qi had long expected the two of them to react this way, and smiled calmly as he handed the remaining crossbow bolts to the two men. "Your Highness, Liao Ge," he said, "you try it out too."

  After a round of shooting, it didn't stop until all the crossbow arrows were broken due to hitting the city wall. After everyone returned to the commander's tent and calmed down, the prince asked: "Yun Qi, I think your bow and arrow method is much more difficult than the bow and arrow. Can you estimate how many people and resources would be needed to make 10,000 such crossbows within seven days?"

  Yun Qi knew that the prince was worried that Shu Guo might come to attack at any time, so he quickly equipped his troops with bows and crossbows, which became his top priority. He remembered that Wang Mujiang, a skilled carpenter, had used his drawings to make them in just a few hours, including selecting materials, sawing wood, polishing and grinding. If they were produced on an assembly line, the time would be even shorter. Thinking of this, he calculated it roughly in his mind and replied: "Your Highness, if I draw the plans and two hundred carpenters work according to my plans, we can make about 10,000 bows and crossbows within seven days."

  "Two hundred... two hundred... That's no small number, looks like I'll be busy running around again."

  The prince thought for a moment and decided to get up immediately and return to the palace to start making arrangements. He stood up and said to Yun Qi, "Yun Qi, you come back to the palace with me first, I'll take care of the carpenter's matter, you can stay in Huadu for now, I'll send someone to inform your teacher, if you don't have a place to stay, you can temporarily move into my East Palace."

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