Chapter 3: The Three Armies

  "Good heavens, what kind of people are these ancestors of Qin?! They've actually perfected the art of killing to the utmost degree! With the most perfect weapons and the bravest warriors, it's no wonder the six nations will be defeated at the mere sight of them!" Suddenly, Fu Su thought of something and asked Ji: "Is there a hidden intention behind making the Qin crossbow so complex, to prevent other countries from imitating it?" Ji nodded in satisfaction: "What you said is correct, even if the nomadic tribes or the six nations of Guandong were to obtain our crossbows, they would still be unable to replicate them no matter how hard they try!"

  Fu Su secretly gave a thumbs up: "High, it's really high. In the future when fighting with the grassland barbarians, use Qin's crossbow to shoot their mothers, guaranteeing they'll cry out in shock and jump around!"

  Suddenly, Fu Su discovered a strange fact: "Gong Shi, why can you only see crossbows and not bows?" Gong Shi smiled and said: "In our Qin state, we basically rarely use bows in battle! Mainly because the range of bows is too short, and the accuracy is also relatively poor! But some generals and special operations still need to use them, however, our workshops do not produce bows!" Fu Su scratched his head, it seems that bows are not popular in Qin state, can't compare with crossbows!

  After the crossbow lecture, everyone continued forward and arrived at the place where arrows were made. Fu Su picked up a small arrowhead that had just been made, still slightly hot to the touch, and examined it carefully: The arrowhead was triangular in shape, with each surface smooth to an exceptional degree, and the cutting edge was extremely sharp, gleaming with a cold light. The craftsmanship was absolutely superb.

  Fu Su was slightly surprised and said, "Gong Shi, why are all these arrowheads triangular in shape?" Gong Shi smiled and said, "I'll tell you, young master. Compared to other shapes of arrowheads, the triangular ones fly more stably when shot, and they have great penetrating power when hitting enemy soldiers, easily piercing armor and entering the human body! This is what our country's craftsmen have determined after countless trials!"

  Fu Su suddenly realized: Aren't modern bullets also triangular in shape? The Qin army's design concept for arrowheads is surprisingly similar to that of modern bullets. Awesome, too awesome! Now Fu Su can only be shocked!

  Then, Fu Su, who was still excited, picked up a few more small arrowheads and examined them in his hand. Suddenly, he felt something strange, so he quickly took two arrowheads and matched the three sides of each one together, and they fit perfectly. Then, with great surprise, Fu Su tried this with over ten arrowheads, and found that not only were the three sides of each arrowhead identical in size and shape, but there was almost no difference between different arrowheads either. In his heart, Fu Su let out a loud "wow" once again, and three big words popped into his head: Standardization!

  Fu Su asked with a slight tremble: "How can these arrowheads be exactly the same in size and shape? How is it that there's not even a tiny error?" Zi looked at him strangely and said: "What's so strange about this? Not only are all the weapons made by our workshop exactly the same size, but also all the weapons manufactured by Qin state are completely uniform!" Fu Su widened his eyes in surprise: "How is this possible?" Fu Su didn't dare to believe it.

  "There are some people who don't understand, saying: 'Really, young master, how dare I deceive you! In the Great Qin, all weapons have a clear and fixed standard for their size, shape, weight, etc. Generally speaking, when a new weapon appears, we choose the best design, fix its size, shape, and weight in the form of law, and then issue it to the national armories, letting them manufacture according to the law. If there are any manufacturing errors or unqualified products, that's a serious crime, punishable by flogging for lighter offenses, and beheading or even extermination of the entire clan for more severe ones! Who dares to be careless even in the slightest?"

  Zhang Daxing's mouth was agape, but he couldn't feel much surprise anymore. Today had been too full of surprises already - the Qin people had even managed to develop something like 'standardized weapon production', a super-advanced manufacturing technology. What else could they possibly achieve?

  Suddenly, Fu Su thought of something and asked sternly: "But generally speaking, can the size of a weapon made by different craftsmen be completely consistent?" Fu Su had a slightly persistent tone. However, Ji seemed to be very familiar with his duties and calmly nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, for each type of weapon, the imperial court has sent down identical molds, and everyone must follow them. Moreover, after the manufacturing is completed, the head of each workshop (equivalent to a workshop director) will personally inspect the products using the mold. If there are any unqualified products, they absolutely cannot be released from the factory, and the craftsmen will also be punished! If they are considered qualified, then the craftsmen, the head of the workshop, and the engineer must all sign their names and leave evidence, which is called 'Material Labor Name'. For example, look at this arrowhead, Your Highness. On it, there are inscriptions (Seventeenth year, Guo Weiwei supervised the manufacture, Engineer Ji, Head of Workshop Yi, Craftsman Cheng) These words indicate that: This was manufactured under the supervision of Guo Weiwei, and the engineer who approved it for storage is Ji, the head of the workshop who inspected it is Yi, and the craftsman who directly made it is Cheng! If in the future, there are reports from the military that the manufacturing of weapons has problems, we can investigate from me to the head of the workshop to the craftsmen, and everyone will be punished. Lightly, they will receive lashes; heavily, they will be executed! Absolutely no one dares to be negligent on the job, so the precision of our Great Qin's weapons is absolutely unparalleled in the world!"

  Fu Su can only nod now. With such a strict and advanced military industry as backing, if the Qin army still cannot win, it would be simply a group of pigs!

  Immediately afterwards, Zuo brought Fu Su and others to visit the fourth workshop: the spear and halberd workshop.

  This is a place where large-scale weapons such as long spears, halberds and guandao are produced. Fu Su was very familiar with heavy weapons like long spears and halberds, but he didn't know what a guandao was. After careful observation, Fu Su discovered that the guandao was actually a weapon formed by installing a shortened bronze sword on a long wooden handle. Suddenly enlightened, Fu Su suddenly realized: Ah, so this is what a guandao is! No wonder many modern archaeologists thought that the guandao was just a bronze shortsword after its wooden handle had rotted away over time!

  Fortunately, Fu Su and others' brain nerves are now very strong, so when they see the cold light flashing, extremely sharp spears, halberds, and other weapons, they no longer have any surprises. Although in their hearts, people still feel a kind of fear from the heart for these powerful heavy weapons.

  Suddenly, Fu Su arrived at the place where finished heavy weapons were stored and couldn't help but be stunned again. He asked: "Master craftsman, why are the lengths of these three types of weapons - spears, halberds, and javelins - completely different?"

  The halberd is 2.7 meters (approximately 6 feet 3 inches) long, making it the most prominent weapon in the infantry formation, excluding crossbowmen. Its length allows soldiers to directly confront enemy forces, adhering to the principle of "one inch longer, one inch stronger." Based on experience from the Qin army's trials, a three-meter-long (approximately 9 feet 10 inches) weapon is the maximum length that ordinary soldiers can handle. To maintain flexibility, the halberd was shortened to 2.7 meters.

  The pike is 1.5 meters (approximately 4 feet 11 inches) long and is positioned behind the halberdiers to protect the formation. Although the halberd's length provides immense power in a charge, making it nearly unstoppable, if enemy forces break through the lines, the halberdiers' long weapons become useless in close combat, leaving them vulnerable to attack. In such situations, pike-wielding soldiers step forward to block the enemy.

  The spear is 1.2 meters (approximately 3 feet 11 inches) long and excels at close-quarters combat. If both the halberdiers and pikemen are overwhelmed by the enemy, it's the turn of the spearmen to take the field! The length and weight of these heavy weapons were carefully designed based on optimal battlefield experience, making them incredibly powerful for conquering the desert and charging into battle.

  There's nothing more to say, Fu Su could only nod vigorously, who made himself almost completely ignorant of Qin's weapons industry!

  The last workshop: Armor Workshop.

  This is a comprehensive workshop for producing all kinds of armor, chariots and other things.

  In comparison to the previous four houses, the Bingjiafang house brought much less shock to Fu Su and others, but from some small things, it can be seen that the Qin army is very strict with armor: The main armor of the Qin army is leather armor, only a few high-ranking generals use metal; All the leather armor of the Qin army are made by sewing with leather strips and tendon strips, with different needlework, coarse and fine, long and short, but absolutely no mistakes are allowed. Even the eighteen needle holes on each piece of armor are strictly regulated, and if one is found to be missing, the female craftsman who made it will receive a warning or even corporal punishment! (Fu Su sweats, with only one word in his mind: strict!)

  The Qin army's chariots were also made to be very strong and sturdy, with even the number of rivets used in certain parts being clearly specified to ensure their solidity. What is even more astonishing is the advanced design of the Qin army's chariot wheels: the bronze-made wheels were extremely intricate and robust, with thirty spokes that resembled modern bicycle steel wires dispersing the pressure from the carriage onto the wheel itself, allowing the chariots to run both fast and steadily; as for the complexity of the hub's craftsmanship, it far exceeded people's imagination today: it was only connected to the axle at both ends, but had a hollow cavity in the middle that was filled with oil, serving a similar purpose to modern lubricants, making the friction between the hub and axle more fluid, and also making the chariots easier to maneuver!

  Fu Su was also greatly surprised: No wonder 400,000 Zhao troops were killed by a chariot team of only 25,000 people sent by Bai Qi in the Battle of Changping! With such powerful war chariots, charging forward is like Mount Tai crushing the top, mighty and unstoppable!

  ………

  As the sun set, Fu Su and the others bid farewell to the palace and left. On the way, no one spoke, apparently all were deeply shocked by the powerful and advanced weapons of Qin Guo. Fu Su took a deep breath: With such strength, Qin Guo can indeed make a child quickly gain the world, let alone the emperor Qin Shi Huang. The destruction of the six nations is indeed an unstoppable historical trend!

  Thinking of this, Fu Su secretly made up his mind: such a great country, many of its ideas for governing the country and army are still very advanced and practical even in modern times. I definitely cannot sit back and watch it be destroyed at the hands of those treacherous officials. For power, I will overcome all difficulties and will not give up until I achieve my goal!!