The rainy season in Mexico starts softly, like a young girl. The sun hides behind the thin clouds, dyeing the sky into a light golden color. The continuous drizzle sprinkles in the faint sunshine, turning the trees and
The grass is moist and green.
The water mist on the riverside was filled with hazy smoke, and several small boats came out of the misty rain, making gentle ripples on the river. Seeing this scene, Shulot couldn't help but recall and long for the distant place.
Jiangnan water town.
Two weeks have passed since the meeting with the envoys of the city-state of Xilotepec. Although the chief commander dropped his harsh words, it will still be a year before the harsh words will be realized. The nobles of Xilotepec still have time to hesitate and quarrel.
Looking forward to reinforcements from our western allies who don't know when they will arrive.
At this time, he was in the forest by the river, directing some carpenters and laborers to use rough stone axes to cut down the hard rosewood with great effort.
This slightly concave rosewood is an extremely excellent mahogany, which can grow to a height of twenty to twenty-five meters. It has a hard texture, beautiful texture, clear tone, and a light fragrance.
It is generally used to make high-end guitars and high-end furniture, and every inch of wood is worth every penny in later generations. Now, Shulot is planning to use it to make a catapult.
With the help of a senior carpenter, he has completed the design of the human catapult: it is a fixed trapezoidal gun mount, four to five meters high, almost the same as the city wall. A slender gun tip used as a lever, the length is temporarily set at eight meters
, the top is connected to the ammunition bag, and the bottom is connected to the rope pulled by people. There is also a gun shaft placed horizontally on the gun mount. The middle of the gun shaft and the bottom two meters of the gun tip are tied together with sisal rope.
In this way, when the gunner pulls the rope, the two-meter short axis of the gun tip drives the six-meter long axis. The gun axis maintains stable rotation on the frame, and the rocks at the top are launched, bombarding the distant city in a parabola.
However, when the design was implemented into a real object, Shulot encountered the first problem: the gun shaft and gun tip were under too much force and could easily break.
Not understanding the connection technology of wood reinforcement, nor the hardening method of wood, Xuelote could only come up with a simple and crude idea to use the best wood. The carpenter recommended cocobolo.
Cutting this hard wood with a stone ax is like sawing a tree with a knife. So an hour later, when Avitt found Xiulote, he was still sitting on the stone by the river, watching the workmen in boredom.
"By the way, can you get me some copper axes?"
"You have to borrow this kind of excellent equipment from the Broken Hair Guards. They are the only ones in the camp currently who have it. Of course, the premise is that they are willing to lend it to you."
"Then I might as well ask the king for it." Thinking of Totec, who had broken hair, tattoos, and a rock-like face, Shulot felt a lot of pressure. "At least the king should look more talkative."
Avitt laughed "haha" without commenting. "I came to see you today on business. Put down the big toy you are holding. There will be a battle in the next few days. I have applied to the king and will take you to watch the battle. We
We have to leave tonight."
"What battle? Wait, what toy? I'm making a catapult, an epoch-making weapon."
"The battle to ambush the Otomi people. Otopan's first batch of 20,000 reinforcements has been setting off for a week, and soon they are within the ambush range of the elite legions. Beyond the times? Wait until your toys become usable weapons.
Bar."
"When did the Legion set up the ambush?" Shulot thought for a moment, "You mean the group of warriors who disappeared a few days ago."
"Hey, when did you see it? It seems that this legion is still not very cautious in its actions."
"Okay, I'll go. Why do you suddenly want to take me to watch the battle?... Avitt, you want to go to the battle yourself, right?"
Avitt smiled but said nothing.
"Don't stop, we must cut down the rosewood trees in the next two days..."
After taking off the priest's uniform, Shulot put on the green leather armor and battle robe. He looked full of energy, and his delicate face gradually showed resolute lines.
They rested and tidied up in the camp for a while. Then, accompanied by a hundred or so guards, the two of them walked around the city and headed west from the northern forest.
Marching in the mountainous forests during the rainy season is difficult. Shulot trudged hard on the soft humus land, with no sunlight above his head, tangled roots under his feet, and his body was soaked with rainwater.
However, this kind of difficulty is not at the same level as the tropical rainforests on the northeastern or southeastern plains. The tropical rainforests in the rainy season are a nightmare for large-scale marches, with swamps, poisons, miasma, and water sources, each of which means unavoidable consequences.
die.
After marching like this for two days, on the morning of the third day, the two finally arrived at the ambush regiment's camp, a small platform behind a hill.
The camp maintained an orderly silence, and from time to time Shulot saw jaguar warriors wearing tiger-head feather helmets, yellow patterned leather armor, and carrying shields and clubs on their backs.
Avitt took Shulot into the big tent in the middle. The commander in the tent, Shulot, had seen him. He was one of the commanders wearing a sunstone cloak, with a picture of a war stick behind him.
"Kasar." Avitt greeted the commander warmly. "What's the enemy's situation like?"
Cassar just nodded and smiled faintly. "Twenty thousand people are from Otopan. Five thousand are city-state warriors, and fifteen thousand are village levies."
"There are only five thousand warriors? What's the use of so many people coming to support us?"
"This reinforcement is just a formality. Their march is very slow, only a dozen miles a day, and the scouts are deployed far away. They spend most of the time waiting for reports from the scouts. The determination to fight is very problematic. I guess they will not be able to do it once they see the situation.
Wonderful, they will retreat."
"In their familiar territory, heavily armed warriors cannot catch up with these mountain people." Avitt nodded, "Then what are you going to do?"
"We have eight thousand warriors. I am going to divide the troops into three groups and take the initiative to attack. If you come over just in time, the four thousand warriors will be handed over to you to attract attention from the front. After the battle, Barda will lead two thousand warriors to attack from the left wing.
And I took 500 elite jaguars and 1,500 warriors and detoured to the rear to launch the final blow." After Casal said this, he waved his fist vigorously.
A strong warrior next to him smiled at Avitt. This was Barda. Judging from the patterns on his helmet and leather armor, he should be a hereditary noble of the Eagle Warriors.
Eight thousand versus 20,000 troops should be divided into three groups and attacked at different times? Shulot's head was full of questions. Seeing the confident expressions on the faces of the generals in the tent, he temporarily suppressed his doubts.
Returning to the camp, the warriors rested early to accumulate strength for the next day's battle.
Lying on the officer's thatched bed, the tips of the grass had a natural smell and were slightly pungent. This kind of straw bed was already much more comfortable than the soldiers' floor bunks. Xiulote raised his questions to Avitt.
"There is no absolute relationship between the combat effectiveness and the number of troops." Avitt replied with a chuckle. "It depends on the specific combat terrain and scene, as well as physical consumption."
"For example, a Jaguar warrior can easily fight against three ordinary warriors and ten village warriors before his physical strength is exhausted, especially in narrow terrain. But in a siege battle, he can only be regarded as an ordinary warrior.
Village warrior, because a stone thrown by a village warrior can kill him."
"A village slinger can only be regarded as half a village warrior in close combat. If he is given enough launch time, he can be regarded as an ordinary warrior. Once he occupies the advantageous terrain, he can be regarded as a warrior in the mountains or in a city defense battle.
, shooting from a high position, he is even more lethal than the Jaguar Warrior."
"On the other side, there are only five thousand city-state warriors worth paying attention to. On a large-scale frontal battlefield, village warriors are mostly used to maintain the battle line, or to consume the opponent's spears and stones. The simple stone spears and wooden spears make them more effective against armored warriors.
The damage is limited, and the sparse shields and armor make them more vulnerable to damage. Low morale makes them more likely to collapse."
"Actually, warriors, only warriors are the core of a city-state! Tomorrow's battle will not be difficult, and it will just let you see the world. Shulot, sleep peacefully~~"
This chapter has been completed!