Ma Long is an expert in ordnance manufacturing. The flat box truck he invented has been the best weapon for infantry to deal with cavalry, and no one can match it.

That's why Cao Liang handed over the task of supervising shipbuilding and floating bridges to him. It is estimated that no one in the Bingzhou army is more suitable for this task than Ma Long.

However, after Ma Long took over this mission, he felt deeply responsible. After all, according to the river crossing schedule proposed by Huan Fan, the Bingzhou Army will launch an attack as soon as possible in the beginning of October. So now it is August, so there is really not much time left for Ma Long.

A pontoon bridge is a product of the connection between ships and wooden boards. When building a pontoon bridge, ships of the same size and length are first arranged across the water surface, and then thick wooden boards are laid on it and connected with large iron nails or cables. This way, a pontoon bridge can be built for chariots, horses and people to pass through.

But it is simple to say, but it is far from so simple to actually build. First of all, the construction requirements for ships used under the pontoon bridge will be higher. These newly cut wood cannot be used directly and must be dried before use. Otherwise, the boards will easily deform and the built boats will also leak.

The wooden boards laid on the pontoon bridge are relatively simple. Since the wooden boards on the pontoon bridge have gaps and do not need to be sealed, there is no big deal about whether the boards are wet or not.

However, the Yellow River is wide and the water flows fast, and ordinary floating bridges are easily washed away by floods, so the Yellow River floating bridges must be made stronger in design and construction.

Since the south bank of the Yellow River is guarded by the Sima army, these floating bridges cannot be built too narrow like ordinary floating bridges. If they are too narrow, it will be detrimental to the Bingzhou Army to launch an attack from the floating bridge. Therefore, the floating bridge must be built wide enough, and at least two war horses can pass through the floating bridge side by side.

Moreover, a single floating bridge is not conducive to attack. The Sima army can gather heavy troops at the end of the floating bridge and completely seal the floating bridge. In this way, even if the Bingzhou army has absolute superior forces, it will not be able to operate.

Therefore, it is impossible to build a floating bridge just one, at least three or more, so that when attacking, they can complement each other and cover each other.

The number of ships and wooden boards required to build three or four large pontoon bridges is quite amazing. Even if the wood supply is sufficient, the lack of craftsmen will inevitably affect the construction progress. Cao Liang gave Ma Long only two months at most. Within two months, the pontoon bridge must be built, and this task is still heavy enough.

Ma Long is a person who is good at thinking and using his brain. Building a pontoon bridge requires first building a large number of ships, and then laying wooden boards on it. Building a ship requires a large number of shipbuilders.

After all, Jizhou is not as good as Jiangdong. The Jiangdong water network is densely populated, and ships are almost the travel tools of ordinary people for dignitaries and nobles. Therefore, the shipbuilding industry in Jiangdong is very developed. Jizhou is located in the north and has fewer uses, so there are almost few craftsmen who can build boats. Ma Long spent a lot of effort, and in the end he summoned dozens of craftsmen who know how to build boats. The rest of the craftsmen were only proficient in carpenter work and knew almost nothing about how to build boats.

Without a large number of skilled shipbuilders, it is almost a dream to complete the construction of more than three floating bridges within two months.

But Ma Long was not discouraged, but carefully studied the structure of the pontoon bridge. The ships used to serve as support under the pontoon bridge are just used as a floating bridge and do not need to be done very carefully.

So after careful observations from many parties, Ma Long believed that some floating boxes could be built to replace the ship. As long as the sealing degree of the floating box could be completely guaranteed and water would not be allowed to enter, the buoyancy of the floating box would be even better than that of the ship.

The so-called floating box is a rectangular box sealed on all sides. The difficulty of creating this kind of box is far less than that of a ship. Even the most ordinary carpenter can create this completely sealed floating box.

In terms of actual use, this kind of floating box is of course not as good as a ship. The ship can not only be used to build a floating bridge, but also carry people to cross the river and transport food and supplies. However, if it is just to build a floating bridge, this floating box can completely meet the needs.

Moreover, the floating box is not only simple to make, but because it is a fully enclosed structure, it is hollow inside and has much larger buoyancy than ordinary ships. Therefore, with the same size, the floating box can carry more weight. When Ma Long designed the floating bridge, it can make the floating bridge wider.

Whether the floating box is easy to use is only the only way to test whether it is good or not. Ma Long first built a floating bridge in Qishui, using the floating box structure he invented recently. As it turns out, the floating bridge built with floating boxes is not significantly different from the floating bridge built by ships, and it is completely better than the ship in terms of performance. It has a large buoyancy and strong load-bearing capacity. More importantly, it is simple to build, convenient and practical, and easier to disassemble.

After the floating box pontoon bridge was completed, Ma Long specially invited Cao Liang to visit Qishuikou. Cao Liang highly affirmed Ma Long's invention. Ma Long's floating box creativity must have come from flat box trucks. A large number of wooden boxes are also used on the flat box trucks. The two are really similar.

Without building a ship, making floating boxes with all your might will inevitably greatly increase the construction speed of the floating bridge. I believe that it will not take long before three floating bridges can span the river, and the north and south of the river will become thoroughfares.

However, the floating bridge must be built, but the warships cannot be completely left out, because it is difficult to break through the Sima Army's defense line by relying solely on the floating bridge. Therefore, when the Bingzhou Army launched an offensive against the Sima Army along the floating bridge, a large number of warships had to be needed on the surface of the Yellow River to cover it.

The two most important warships are the arrow ship and the stone caster.

The name of the arrow ship is a ship equipped with crossbows. The arrow ship planned by Cao Liang is divided into two layers. The lower layer is equipped with a powerful three-bow bed crossbow and a fast-firing crossbow cart. The upper layer is a flat structure, and archers can be placed on it at that time and long-range attacks on the other side of the Yellow River.

The catapult ship moved the catapult car to the ship. The previously caring catapult could not be equipped on the ship at all because of so many pulling hands and the narrow hull could not be accommodated.

Cao Liang's counterweight catapult car overcomes this disadvantage. Since it does not require a large number of people and only a few people can operate the catapult car, it is possible to install the catapult car on the warship.
Chapter completed!