These officials were chattering and sarcastic in a low voice, but at least they knew whose son this little Gaozhang was.
Therefore, I only dared to whisper behind my back and never dared to actually taunt him.
Not to mention the attitude and opposition of the official who was very fond of this child prodigy champion, it would be surprising if his father, Captain Gao, could make things easier for these gossips.
However, the nickname "Bangong Gong", which is obviously ironic and derogatory, has begun to be spread by word of mouth among these sub-officials.
"Okay, okay, I want to take a good look at whether this good bow you invented, little Gao Aiqing, can really make my great Song Dynasty monarchs shine."
While speaking, as the official Zhao Ji signaled the start, a Forbidden Army general below gave a stern order.
Everyone saw the thirty Forbidden Army shooters, arranged in three rows.
Moreover, the sizes of the three rows of Forbidden Army shooters seemed to be somewhat different, which made official Zhao Ji couldn't help but feel curious.
Facing the official's gaze, Gao Taiwei stepped forward and reported in a low voice.
"I am here to test the three types of large, medium and small bows, so I am looking for people who are good at shooting, including those of ordinary height and those with strong bodies..."
Before Gao Qiu finished speaking, the first row of shooters over there had already loosened their strings...
Almost in the blink of an eye after everyone loosened the strings, they heard the crisp sound of gold and iron.
After such a crisp sound, the shooters in the first row were seen retreating, and then in the second row, there was still a very crisp sound of gold and iron.
After three rings, a group of royal guards ran over, picked up the ten arrow stacks in groups of two, and quickly walked to the steps to place them.
At this moment, everyone's eyes widened a lot.
Each of these armored arrow stacks at seventy paces contained an average of three arrows.
Moreover, these three arrows are definitely not hanging in vain.
"Bring one up." Following the order from official Zhao Ji, one of the armored arrow stacks was placed in the open space on the steps outside the Chui Gong Hall.
All the ministers saw that all three arrows penetrated the armor, leaving only the arrow shafts on the surface of the armor.
Such an expression shocked everyone, especially the military ministers in the court, who crowded closer.
And the old general Yang, the commander of the bodyguard's army, Ma Junsi, who had once had a relationship with Lu Qian, walked to the front and studied it carefully for a long time.
Then he pulled out one of the feather arrows, looked at the arrow, and then looked at the gap in the armor that passed through the feather arrow.
"This is actually just a point-steel arrow, not an iron-bone cone arrow..."
As soon as I heard this sentence, I knew that he was definitely an experienced driver who had been in the industry for a long time.
Just like at this moment, many officials were confused after hearing this.
I just feel that the name of the first arrow seems too ordinary, while the name of the second arrow is very lofty, and it sounds like it is very powerful.
Point steel arrows are common standard arrows in the Song Dynasty. They are also the simplest to make and have the largest production volume.
The iron-bone cone arrow is an armor-piercing arrowhead of the Song Dynasty. However, the arrowhead is narrow and extremely sharp, with a barb at the rear. It is easier to penetrate iron armor than other arrowheads.
At this moment, an order came from below again, and this time, it was accompanied by the order from the general of the Forbidden Army.
Half of the archers switched to heavy arrows and armor-piercing arrows, and half of the archers still used ordinary arrows.
Old General Yang and other military ministers who originally looked down upon this kind of flat bow were all looking at the shooter below intently for the first time.
It was still the sound of gold and iron that was crisp and slightly harsh, still after three shots.
The armored arrow stacks at the ninety-step mark were also moved under the steps.
This time, two arrow stacks were brought up, one with heavy arrows inserted in it, and the other with only one arrow breaking through the iron armor, while the other two arrows only left grooves on the iron armor.
At this moment, the first row of shooters has stood in the shooting position for the third time.
At this moment, the distance to the arrow stack was already at one hundred and ten steps, when three rounds of arrows were completed.
This time, ordinary arrows can still leave grooves on it, but it is no longer possible to break the armor.
However, with heavy arrows that use armor-piercing arrows, more than half of them still break the armor.
"One hundred and ten steps...this, actually one hundred and ten steps, can still break armor with a heavy arrow..."
Old General Yang's face was full of disbelief at this moment, and the officials who knew more about bows and arrows also had expressions of shock.
Although in the next one hundred and twenty steps, less than one-third of the arrows penetrated the armor.
However, ordinary arrows actually shot out through the skin and armor at this position. At this moment, everyone's expressions began to go numb.
By the 160th step, ordinary arrows were no longer able to break through the leather armor, while the heavy arrows equipped with armor-piercing arrows could still penetrate easily. However, facing the iron armor, only three heavy arrows could break through the armor.
After one hundred and eighty steps, everyone used heavy arrows, piercing all the leather armor.
And when they reached two hundred steps, one-third of the archers failed to hit, but the heavy arrows hit by the remaining two-thirds of the archers still penetrated the leather armor again.
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The monarchs and ministers of the Song Dynasty who were originally standing on the steps outside the Chui Gong Hall had all descended the steps and stood in front of the stacks of arrows that had been carried over.
The vast majority of people were silent, including Gao Zhang, the official Zhao Ji, and the Taiwei Gao Qiu who had already witnessed this scene.
And those generals who have experienced battle formations have begun to have a sense of pictures in their minds at this moment.
It is true that Xixia's bows are more sophisticated, but Xixia's strong bows can only break armor within seventy steps.
Most of the current military bows of the Song Dynasty can only penetrate armor at about fifty paces.
Of course, fortunately, the Song Dynasty also had long-range weapons such as divine arm bows and strong crossbows that required multiple people to operate, which could hit enemies at longer distances.
However, the number of divine arm bows or powerful crossbows is not enough to achieve the suppression effect.
And if all the soldiers of the Song Dynasty held this flat bow, they could break armor at a distance of a hundred steps.
If the Xixia people wanted to inflict casualties on the Song soldiers, they could only risk their arrows and rush to 70 steps before starting to shoot.
But please remember that Xixia, unlike the Song Dynasty where many people were afraid of money, had so much money and resources to arm their soldiers.
Xixia is still a semi-nomadic country. Except for the most elite troops, a considerable number of soldiers can only wear leather armor.
So here comes the question. In the past, the Song Dynasty’s bows and arrows could only cause damage to the enemy at two hundred steps.
But now, when Xixia is still two hundred steps away from the Song soldiers, the pouring arrow rain will have a killing effect on them.
However, Xixia's soldiers and horses had to run for more than a hundred steps against the rain of arrows from the Song Dynasty. Such a long distance was enough for the Song soldiers to spray four to five waves of arrow rain.
Just imagining it, these military ministers of the Song Dynasty, who were very aggrieved in the court, and also very aggrieved because of armament issues when facing foreign enemies, now began to have light in their eyes.
(End of chapter)
