Li Shiji and his army looked at the scene in front of them in amazement. At this moment, near the mouth of the Yalu River, dozens of unique sailing ships were going upstream. Although their speed was not fast, because the water flow speed of the river at the mouth of the sea was high, It is slowed down, so it is not difficult to go upstream here.
And they didn't go too far deep. Just where the river narrowed at the mouth of the sea, ships began to gradually approach each other.
These are not large in size, with a displacement of about 500 tons, and their size is different from sea-going ships. They are more like inland ships. The belly part in the middle is more bloated. The length of these ships is about 50 meters, and the width is about 50 meters. The middle deck width is approximately 15 meters.
Their sails are located at the bow and stern of the ship. There is nothing on the middle deck of the ship, but it is very flat, and the position of their middle deck is a uniquely shaped steel plate.
When they began to approach each other, the steel plate with a width of about four meters in the middle and a thickness of 50 mm spread out from the left and right. When the steel plate was unfolded, a steel plate that was 20 meters long, 4 meters wide, and 50 mm thick was immediately formed.
This unique steel plate has a special buckle on the edge. When the ship arrives at the designated location, the engineers on the ship quickly lower the sail and drop a huge anchor made of reinforced concrete.
The reason why reinforced concrete anchors are used is that if these anchors are difficult to collect, they can be discarded directly.
When the anchor stabilizes the river bottom, the anchor chain is pulled by manpower and the pulley structure on the ship to adjust the position of the ship. Then all the sails are quickly furled, and then the ships are quickly moved closer to each other through the ropes connecting the ships on both sides.
After the ships got closer, the engineers quickly buckled the steel plates on both sides and started connecting them together with thick steel bolts.
A ship closest to the edge of the river rushed directly to the river shoal and ran aground close to the river. The edge of the elongated steel plate extended from the ship was quickly driven into the ground with a long steel drill.
On the river, one ship after another quickly approached and connected with each other. In less than five hours, a steel bridge with a total length of about 1,000 meters and composed of more than fifty unique sailing ships was built on the river. On the Yalu River!
When the entire bridge was built, the faces of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty who stood on the riverside and watched were full of shock!
Even generals like Li Shiji were shocked, let alone other ordinary soldiers.
Although the Yalu River is not as majestic as the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, people in the past have never had the ability to build a bridge on such a wide river!
But now, Datang can build a bridge on it in just a few hours!
How powerful is this? !
"Is this also invented by His Highness?" Hou Junji asked.
"Yes! I never thought that such a pontoon bridge could be completed in such a short time, and that there are such special ships. The most important thing is that it is built on such a huge river, and this The floating bridge can be dismantled at any time, which is the most important thing." Li Shiji nodded seriously.
"As expected, His Highness is well-versed in military literature. There are many things that are common to us, but His Highness can always invent incredible things." Hou Junji and the others also expressed emotion on their faces.
They were shocked by the new form and super speed, but they were not surprised by similar methods.
Because this kind of pontoon force seemed to be common in all countries in later generations, and the military configurations of various countries were common, but in fact China had already stopped playing it more than 2,000 years ago.
A similar pontoon bridge was built as early as the fiftieth year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin Dynasty on the Yellow River at Pujin Pass in Yongji City, Shanxi Province. The first military pontoon bridge in human history was built.
Floating bridges have been built at this location in various dynasties in later generations. Later, in the seventh year of Kaibao in the Song Dynasty, the first pontoon bridge was built on the Yangtze River. The yellow and black dragon boats used were almost the same as those of later generations.
This is why, more than a thousand years later, Sun Tzu's Art of War is still highly respected around the world.
Because of playing the art of war, my ancestors had long been tired of all means.
As for what situation it can be used in, it depends on your own ability to integrate it.
"Cross the river!" Li Shiji directly issued the order after confirming with the Zhouqiao troops.
All are built from 500-ton ships, and the bridge deck is a pontoon bridge composed of steel plates, allowing a column of six people to cross the bridge quickly at running speed!
In other words, if the Tang Dynasty's 100,000 infantrymen lined up in neat lines and ran across the river, they would be able to complete the crossing in basically nine hours! It took Hudar's 50,000 troops to cross the Yalu River for three days!
This is because they cross the river by boat at the narrowest point, without bridges. This is because they have deployed a large number of ships, otherwise, this time will only be longer.
Of course, the actual passage time of Datang was slightly longer than this, because not only did a large number of cavalry ride directly across the river, but there were also large engineering equipment that also had to pass through the bridge.
But even so, it only took three more hours. When Li Shiji and the others crossed the river in the middle of the night, there was a loud explosion in the distance from the direction of Wugu City!
It was Datang's army that took advantage of the night to directly blow down the wall of Wugu City.
It is estimated that by the time tomorrow dawns, the battle in Wugu City will be concluded.
But that's not what Li Shiji is responsible for. It's Xue Wanche who is attacking Wugu City. Next, Datang's soldiers will go directly to Pyongyang!
It is estimated that by tomorrow, Yeon Gaesumun in Pyongyang will know the news of the fall of Wugu City. I hope he will misjudge the time for the Tang army to cross the river, and at least three days of opportunity will be ushered in for the Tang Dynasty.
At that time, Datang could choose a suitable battlefield and even arrive directly at Pyongyang to launch the final general attack on Goguryeo.
Because Goguryeo has always had scout operations along the Yalu River, they were driven away by the Tang navy, and there must be Goguryeo soldiers stationed on the other side of the Yalu River next to Wugu City.
They will get the news when Wugu City is destroyed, so there is no way they can hide the news from Yeon Gaesowun no matter what.
But it's not important, because Li Shiji has already communicated with Li Daozong of Silla. When they crossed the river, 50,000 Tang elites had gathered, and the Silla Army of tens of thousands of Silla auxiliaries also launched an attack under the leadership of Li Daozong. .
City-breaking mines have brought huge changes to this era. It is no exaggeration to say that without any preparation by the enemy, city-breaking mines can blow down any city wall.
When the city walls cannot protect the enemy, Datang's arrow rain and medium-sized crossbows are enough to become a nightmare for all enemies.
