There were no more field battles, and the siege continued. The next month felt calm.
The rain was pouring down, and there were few sunny days. Time flew by, and it was mid-July in the blink of an eye, which was the peak of summer when everything flourished.
Hilotepec Suiqiu City still did not surrender. Their food could last at least another ten months. Outside the Mexica camp, a steady stream of food was shipped from the lake. The alliance warriors stayed in the camp.
, competing with each other in martial arts, and teaching young warriors how to fight.
Shulot stayed with the craftsmen, cutting the hard rosewood with difficulty. Hundreds of people worked day and night to make the catapult's gun mount and polish the long gun tip. Of course, the most difficult thing to make was the rotation.
The craftsmen worked on the connection between the gun shaft and the gun mount for a long time. Bertard and some of the warriors who followed him helped with the work.
More than ten days later, different parts of the catapult were assembled one after another. The carpenters accompanying the army reinforced the gun mount and used expensive copper nails. Next, was the first test of the gun. When the stone bombs were fired, everyone just cheered.
When the sound was heard, the rope connecting the cannon tip to the cannon shaft fell apart in an instant. The heavy square cannon whistled down from a height of four meters, like a terrifying spear in the hands of a giant, deeply inserted into the soil, and the surrounding people were thrown away.
Everyone broke out in a cold sweat.
The test launch did not go well, so Shurot had to go to Avitt again. Even after resigning from his post, Avitt still had many resources in his hands. He provided the mortar for building the pyramid for Shurot's "big toy"
Adhesive, and recruited several senior carpenters from the city-state of Mexico in the southeast.
The senior carpenters were serious and respectful, devoting their wisdom to the young Coyote Priest. They studied for several days and improved the overall connection of the catapult using mortise and tenon technology. Finally, after a month of hard work, a real catapult was completed.
Got it!
The day of the second test launch was a rare sunny day. The afternoon sun was warm and comfortable, making people feel relaxed.
Avitt stood on the edge of the school field with a smile, looking at the four- to five-meter-high catapult not far away. A large number of craftsmen and civilians were busy under the catapult, making final preparations before the test launch.
"Xulot, you pulled me here in such a hurry...Why, is your big toy ready to play with?"
Shulot raised his head slightly with excitement on his face. This was the first time he had brought about changes in the "future" in this era.
"Avit, this will be an epoch-making weapon that will forever change the way we attack city-states! I call it the Human Catapult Type 1. No, it does not have wheels, it should be the Human Catapult Type 1."
"oh!"
Avitt smiled and nodded, interestingly and noncommittally. Hulot watched the craftsmen finish loading, and then he couldn't wait to give orders loudly.
"emission!"
After giving the order, more than twenty strong civilians pulled hard on the many ropes connected to the short shaft of the cannon tip. Then, the cannon tip and the cannon shaft suddenly rotated, making a huge "squeaking" sound.
When the long axis of the cannon tip approached the highest point of rotation, about ten meters above the ground, a stone weighing more than ten kilograms flew out of the magazine at the top of the long axis with a swish! This heavy stone flew across
A parabola was thrown out, and it hit the end of the school field from a distance. It made a "dong" sound on the ground, and a cloud of dust was thrown out!
"ah?"
Avitt's mouth opened wide as he watched this scene, a rare shock solidifying on his face. A stone the size of a human head was thrown a distance of more than two hundred steps, and the huge kinetic energy could kill anyone in an instant.
The warrior at the landing point has no regard for martial arts or armor.
"Ha! This is the trebuchet, a siege weapon that has never been seen before!"
Shulot grinned and "appreciated" Avitt's expression. This was the first time he saw the rude shock on Avitt's face. A huge sense of accomplishment surged in his chest, for the first thing
A product that transcends the times, and the change he brought about for the first time in history!
At the same time, the young Shulot also had a clear understanding in his heart: For the heroes of this era, he does not have powerful martial arts, nor extraordinary wisdom, and he is still learning to grasp the people's hearts and the current situation.
.All he can really rely on is his emphasis on science, technology and productivity, his prediction of future development directions, and his memory of historical trends.
"All right!"
He smiled self-deprecatingly and evaluated his current self.
"A part-time scientist, craftsman, and prophet-priest."
"O Lord God!"
The shock on Avitt's face lasted for six seconds. This was the longest time in recent years that he had lost control of his expression.
After regaining consciousness, he walked to the trebuchet with a serious face. He carefully observed the mechanical structure and determined that the weapon could be fired repeatedly. Then, he walked to the landing point of the trebuchet and personally measured the distance of the trebuchet.
.
"Fourteen pounds, two hundred and twenty steps."
Shulot heard Avitt's voice, which was solemn and serious in calculation.
"Come on, stand on the high platform and throw stones!"
Later, Avitt called a skilled hunter to measure the effective killing distance of the hunter's sling on the five-meter earth platform.
"The sling on the city wall has a range of close to 120 steps. It causes slight damage to leather armor and has a very low hit rate."
It was only at this moment that Avitt shouted to Xuellot with excitement on his face.
"Quick! Test it. What is the heaviest stone that this wooden beast can launch from a distance of one hundred and twenty steps!"
The two began to test stones of different weights, and finally found that the weight of a 120-step shot was more than 40 kilograms, which is about nine liters, about the size of three human heads.
At this distance, the potential energy of a stone weighing more than 40 kilograms and nearly ten meters plus the kinetic energy of its initial velocity can leave obvious marks on the earth and stone city wall. Of course, for a wide city wall, it cannot cause structural damage.
In other words, if you want to bring down the city wall, this basic human-powered catapult cannot do it. What it can do is to knock down the watchtowers, wooden towers on the city wall and inside the city...all buildings made of wood.
.
After obtaining the detailed weapon data of the trebuchet, Avitt left in a hurry and went to the main tent to report back.
After a while, the commander-in-chief Totec was forcibly pulled over by Avit. This cold and tall Mexican ace warrior looked at the "big toy" slowly being loaded with a forty-pound
Stone bullets. Then, with a huge roar, a hard and cold face was stunned and shocked for more than ten seconds.
"God bless you!"
Totec looked at the impact point of the stone. The heavy stone bullet sank into the ground, a full palm deep.
"Xulot, is this a weapon of God? It is said that the giant in the first era used this weapon to kill the sun?"
"This is...the siege weapon of the Divine Blessing Alliance."
Xiulote answered carefully, looking at Totec who was almost worshiping beside the trebuchet, with helplessness on his face. This kind of trebuchet is probably as powerful as Cao Jun's Thunderbolt Chariot in the Battle of Guandu. It is far inferior to
The Huihui artillery of the Song and Yuan Dynasties was far from the large-caliber short-barreled artillery used by the Spaniards to besiege the Moors in this era.
"All the ministries in Central America... have suffered from a lack of knowledge and scientific and technological exchanges."
Xiulote lowered his head slightly, his thoughts drifting away. In this era, even the various tribes in West Africa and East Africa already knew the roaring artillery from the war in North Africa. And decades later, the Aztec warriors still
They would mistake the cannons and matchlock guns of the Spanish colonists for the terrible "divine punishment" and fall into the fear of the unknown and mysterious.
In fact, the gunpowder weapons of this era did far less damage to personnel than brutal close combat. And its impact on morale was contrary to the military's perception.
"But, now I am here!"
In any case, the newly built trebuchet is the first large-scale siege weapon in Central America, possessing epoch-making power. Totec immediately mobilized village soldiers and craftsmen, and then forcibly recruited all craftsmen from nearby city-states. In Xiong
Under the strong supervision of the Eagle Knights, human trebuchets were manufactured on a large scale.
The rosewood trees near the camp were immediately destroyed. In order to improve the efficiency of felling, Totec mobilized all the copper axes in the Guards and used a large number of sand ropes to make saws. Then, the clanking sound of construction began.
The sound echoed through the entire camp.
Soon, Shulot's "big toy" became famous throughout the army. Alliance officers at all levels came to watch the trebuchet launch, leaving all kinds of shocked faces. Even King Tisok came to inspect once, and
Avitt was also shocked for six seconds, making Xuellot secretly sigh, "He is truly a brother."
More than half a month later, more than fifty trebuchets were lined up outside the east gate of Xilotepec City, a hundred or two hundred steps away from the city wall. Xilote gave an order, and drums sounded.
A thousand strong men suddenly pulled the ropes on their backs, and the wooden tips of the trebuchets rose high!
"Boom!...Bang!"
More than fifty boulders flew out with a bang, bursting through the air in the horrified eyes of the defenders, and then fell to the ground with a loud bang! The ground shook where they landed, the houses were shattered, and a cloud of dust was raised.
"Trebuchet Commander" Shulot stood on an earthen platform two hundred steps away, observing the results of the bombardment. He asked for this position from Tisok on the grounds that he could better utilize the effect of the trebuchet. In fact,
, he just wanted to evaluate the power of his masterpiece nearby and feel proud for a while.
"Haha! The launch angle is 60 degrees from the front. Well, it can only ensure that the rocks shot are within 60 degrees from the front. Not bad, not bad."
After thinking about it, Shulot wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead and whispered to himself.
"Perhaps it would be better to round the stone! But that would require too many tools. Forget it, we don't expect precise strikes anyway."
Then, Shulott assessed the casualties on the opposite side.
"A lot of houses were smashed, and the ones that hit the city wall... were about three or four? The hit rate on the city wall was 5%, and the opponent lost four or five warriors. It is estimated that with the increase in shooting, the opponent will adapt quickly, and the casualties can be ignored.
Excluding."
"Sure enough, small trebuchets are just weapons to demoralize, suppress long-range, and create fear."
Thinking of this, Shulot's thoughts fluctuated and he came to a conclusion.
"Technology research and development must continue!"
"Boom!...Bang!"
The ruthless bombardment also continued. The boulders fell to the ground with a sound like thunder. The city warriors on the city wall had pale faces and their majestic bodies were trembling. Many militiamen knelt down and prayed to the "behemoth" roaring and firing in front of them. Even their own side
Many samurai and militiamen were no exception.
For the inventor and commander of the "behemoth", the coyote priest Shulot, the warriors and militiamen in the army have many strange and god-like emotions. Of course, this emotion will gradually fade away, but the respected
The seeds have been planted, and there is more recognition and obedience in people's hearts.
The continuous bombardment lasted for three full days! During this period, Otomi nobles and priests continued to board the city, and then left in a panic with faces full of horror.
Three days later, the gates of Xilotepec were opened again, and a group of envoys hurried out. This time, the envoys brought boxes of gifts and tributes.
