Chapter 5 is uploaded by netizens and reprinted on this site only for promoting this book to let more readers appreciate.

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  Last time, Yuan Tingyu introduced the military forces of Jin Guo to Zhou Tong and his disciples.

  Wanyan Zonghan continued: "The Jurchen people's commonly used tactics are to use iron floating towers to break through the enemy's front row formation, open up a gap; then use the hooked horse to scatter and disrupt the enemy's overall team formation, making it impossible for the enemy to respond; finally, use a large number of cavalry to cover up. Wanyan Aguda used this tactic in battles against Liao, and was invincible, never suffering defeat."

  The atmosphere in the account became depressed.

  Yue Fei asked, "Lu Shi-xiong, you just talked about field battles, what about the Jin people's city siege warfare capabilities?"

  Zhan Tingyu looked at Yue Fei with great appreciation and thought to himself, "The master's new disciple is quite sharp-eyed." He then pulled out another painting and replied, "The Jurchen people are not only fierce in battle, but also excel in siege warfare. There are many large trees outside the pass, and the Jurchen ruler Wanyan Aguda deliberately recruited skilled craftsmen, so the Jurchen's siege engines are far more sophisticated than those of the Liao people."

  This is the first siege engine of the Jin people, the 'attack wagon'. The attack wagon was made of wood, about three zhang high, and as tall as the city wall. The overall structure was like a wooden house, with each zhang in height being one floor, for a total of three floors. Each floor was equipped with long ladders for ascending and descending. In order to prevent fire attacks, the exterior of the engineering vehicle was often coated with mud.

  "The base of the siege engine is equipped with four or six wooden wheels, making it highly mobile. The outer surface of the wooden wheels is covered with cowhide or sheepskin to protect against damage from arrows and stones shot by the defending troops. Inside the main body of the siege engine, a large cylindrical log is suspended by ropes or iron chains, with a metal cap at the rear and a metal head at the front, often shaped like a ram's head. The front arm can be extended up to ten feet long. At the same time, it can accommodate twenty men attacking the top of the wall."

  He pulled out the fifth painting and said, "This is the second type of siege engine used by the Jurchen people, the 'crash cart'. The crash cart has a multi-layered thick wooden board as its top cover, with an eight-trigram roof shape on top. On top of it will be covered with wet animal hide to prevent fire from burning it.

  The base of the ram car is similar to that of the assault cart, but slightly smaller.

  A battering ram had a large wooden beam with an iron head, which was swung back and forth inside the covering by the men stationed inside. The iron head would then be driven into the gates or walls of the fortification, breaking them open. This force could break open the thick wooden gates or stone walls, creating an opening for attack.

  Tingyu continued to pull out the sixth painting and said, "This is the third type of Jin people's siege equipment 'Cloud Ladder Car'. The cloud ladder car of the Jin people is divided into two parts. Below is the base and the main ladder that has been fixed in place. The bottom of the base is the same as the base of the siege car, and the surface of the base is equipped with defensive shields, pulleys and other devices, and equipment with rollers for lifting."

  The upper part of the cloud ladder car is an active upper city ladder (vice ladder), and the top of the ladder is equipped with a hook-like object, which is used to hook the city wall and can protect the head of the ladder from being pushed back and destroyed by the defending army.

  ……

  Yuan Tingyu displayed thirteen pictures of Jin army equipment, including catapults and heavy stone-throwing cannons. Each picture was vividly drawn, full of murderous intent. The three men fell silent, the tent was quiet as a tomb.

  Finally, it was Zhou Tong who spoke up and asked: "Tingyu, in your opinion, what other weaknesses does the Jin army have?"

  Yuan Tingyu sighed and said, "I have also considered this issue, but I have not found a solution. Whether it is the quality of the Jin army, the strategy of the generals, or the equipment of the troops, they seem to be invincible, and we Han people seem to be doomed."

  Ting Yu, after all these years, your state of mind hasn't made much progress. How did I teach you back then? All things in the world can be summed up with one word - "change". This word ultimately boils down to one sentence: "Change and flow, circulating through the six voids." Since it's about change, there will be reversals. Moreover, as a Daoist, we are meant to go against heaven, doing what needs to be done.

  Zhou Tong glanced at Wan Tingyu and saw that Wan Tingyu seemed to have some doubts, so he sighed in his heart: "This disciple's comprehension is really not as good as Yue Fei."

  Zhou Tong turned his head and looked at Yue Fei, asking: "Little Flying, you've been following me for over three years now. Tell me, what weaknesses do the Jin soldiers have?"

  Yue Fei, like Yao Niangniang, was born with a clever and sensitive heart. He understood the art of observing facial expressions and reading between the lines. Seeing his teacher ask this question, he knew that the Golden Army must have weaknesses, but it was just his teacher's way of testing him. After thinking for a moment, Yue Fei replied: "I think that the Jurchen people have been living in a remote corner of the country for a long time, and their territory is much smaller than the Central Plains region. As a result, they naturally have fewer soldiers, which is their first weakness. The Golden Army is also made up of humans, who need to eat, and their warhorses need to eat grass. If they want to invade the Central Plains, they will have to travel long distances, making it difficult for them to transport food and fodder, which is their second weakness..."

  Ladies and gentlemen: In the era of cold weapons, food was indeed a big problem. The first ancient army to solve the problem of food supply was Genghis Khan's Mongolian army. At that time, Genghis Khan ordered people to cook beef first, then dry it in the wind, cut it into thin slices, making it very convenient to carry and store for a long time. When eating, just soak it in hot water, and it becomes a big piece of meat. The principle is similar to modern instant noodles. Genghis Khan's ability to sweep across Eurasia was due to his solution to food supply being the first reason.

  Watching Yue Fei talk eloquently, Yuan Tingyu felt a little ashamed. Not even fifteen years old, where did the teacher pick up this little abnormality?

  Zhou Tong and others said to Yue Fei, patted Yue Fei's shoulder, feeling very relieved.

  Unconsciously, it was already noon. The three masters and apprentices had lunch and returned to the camp to discuss their next move.

  Back in the camp, the three men sat down according to the rules of their school. Zhou Tong told Yuan Tingyu that Huashan was focusing on cultivating Yue Fei, preparing to establish his own team, and wanted to use Qilin Mountain as a base, also wanting to borrow the Flower Stone Gang's funds as military pay and so on.

  Luan Tingyu's actions after returning to the Song Dynasty can be summed up in two words: "revenge". Now that his master is demanding so much, he will definitely lean towards himself when Sun Li comes. Moreover, Luan Tingyu was originally a generous person, so he readily agreed to Zhou Dang's requests.

  Zhou Tong saw that Luan Tingyu was still as trusting of himself as before, which was very reassuring. He then instructed him for a while and conveniently took away 5,000 taels of gold, left the mountain and returned to Qilin Village.

  Honorable judges, initially, Fan Tingyu obtained the Huashi Gang for 120,000 taels, which is equivalent to 12,000 taels of gold. This Zhou Dong fellow almost took away half of it, isn't that a bit too ruthless?

  Zhou Tongyu accompanied Zhou Cong and Yue Fei down the mountain on the main road, introducing them to the mechanisms along the way. Zhou Cong was knowledgeable and didn't react much, but Yue Fei's eyes widened in amazement - he had never thought that mechanisms could be used like this before.

  Upon arriving at the ferry, Wan Tianyu proudly explained to Zhou Tong the series of mechanical devices. Yue Fei suddenly blurted out: "Wan Shixiong, those bed crossbows seem much smaller than the one in our village."

  After the wall of Qilin Village was built, there were still a lot of funds left over, and the elders decided to buy a bed crossbow and some bows and arrows as a deterrent. Yue Fei tried shooting it, one arrow can reach 150 zhang, with shocking killing power. Yue Fei remembered this vividly.

  To know what happens next, look at the next episode.