It was dark, but the engineers responsible for assembly were still working hard.
Many officers, soldiers and civilians were watching the fun. They had never seen anything called a roller trebuchet.
As the thirteen trebuchets were assembled bit by bit, everyone was amazed.
These trebuchets were all made by Xincheng Steel Works. Countless metal components were built like building blocks. These parts were carried in a caravan with a load capacity of 7 tons.
The steel was so heavy that each vehicle required more than a dozen oxen to drag it.
The carbide lamp illuminated the camp as bright as day, and the trebuchet gradually appeared in outline.
Yang Fan was unwilling to give advanced artillery to the emperor.
One is that the cost is too high and the emperor cannot afford it. The other is what if the emperor is slandered one day and uses cannon to blast the walls of the new city.
Therefore, what Yang Fan gave to the Beijing camp were the highest level cold weapons of this era. The cheapest plate armor, a small amount of steel crossbows, and weapons made of high-quality steel.
This time, before setting off for the expedition, they took away basically all the large firearms that could be used by the Beijing camp. After all, they were going to attack a fortified city. This included the ten red cannons in the capital and the seven Luzon bronze cannons.
This time, three Luzon bronze cannons thrown away by the Mongols were found in Zhangjiakou.
The commander-in-chief of Xuanfu sent an official letter to take back these three heavy artillery pieces.
What a joke. Yang Fan and Zhang Shize almost smiled crookedly. There are such innocent people in this world. Is Hou Shilu a fool?
Why should we pay back the money we borrowed based on our ability?
This was captured by the Mongols, okay? You can go and get it from Tushetu Khan, if you can find him.
In addition to these 22 heavy cannons, there are also more than 300 large and small general cannons, French cannons, Fran machine cannons, etc. There are also some mortar cannons specially used for siege.
For the sake of safety, Yang Fan brought 13 trebuchets from his warehouse to enhance the technical equipment for siege. In addition to the trebuchets, there were also watchtowers and nest carts assembled from steel components.
The trebuchet was finally completed. The swing arm is twenty meters long. The chassis of the vehicle body has eight wheels, which are actually rubber wheels.
This is made of refurbished scrap truck tires. The wheels have bearings, which makes it very labor-saving to push.
The counterweights are basalt blocks blown down by engineers who went to a nearby mountain in the afternoon.
There is a circular wheel-shaped space on one side of this trebuchet, and a huge shire horse is driven into it. The horse is allowed to run inside, the wheels rotate, and then the winch is applied.
Use the ratchet device to lift the counterweight high. Don't let the horse stop until the counterweight reaches the top. Then lock the winch.
Liu Sansi said to engineer Zhao Dazhuang: "You students are still very powerful. You have learned some incredible knowledge in the academy. It looks very powerful. How far can this thing hit?"
Zhao Dazhuang said: "Liu Tuanzuo, our trebuchet can throw 150 kilograms of stone bombs to a distance of 300 meters.
"Hey, it's so powerful. When I was in the martial arts school, I learned the martial arts classics. It said that the range of a man-made trebuchet is only fifty meters. It needs to be fired by bows and arrows."
"This is the most advanced trebuchet today. It can be launched outside the enemy's range. It is made entirely of steel. It is lighter than wood, more durable, and has a longer range. Tomorrow, officers and soldiers from the martial arts battalion will also come to the site to observe the use of the trebuchet.
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Liu Sansi was the first batch of regiment training members. During this reorganization of the Beijing camp, Yang Fan and the emperor requested that they first use regiment training to serve as officers in the Beijing camp. After returning from the Western Expedition, the regiment training officers withdrew and the emperor appointed new officers.
This time, the emperor organized a martial arts battalion of 1,500 students from the Jingwei martial arts school. They also went on the expedition. Their number was not among the 80,000 in the Jingwei camp. They followed Yang Fan's Chinese army tent.
Chongzhen's purpose was also to train them through actual combat. He also planned to use them to serve as grassroots officers such as small banners, general banners, and hundreds of households in the Beijing camp after the Western Expedition. These people are all noble sons, senior officers, and thousands of local guards.
Children from families with more than one household.
The emperor summoned them through the special form of martial arts examination Enke, entered the Jingwei martial arts school, and trained them as grassroots officers of the Xinjing camp.
"It's assembled and needs to be tested." Zhao Dazhuang said.
"This is a blind light. No matter how you test it, you can't see it." Liu Sansi asked puzzledly.
Zhao Dazhuang snapped his fingers and said: "You can have this, just use incendiary bombs."
Liu Sansi called five hundred soldiers and drove Sharma to pull thirteen trebuchets to a place 250 meters away from the south gate of Jining City.
"Put down the hoe, yes, put it in the dug pit. Tread it firmly with soil. Lock the wheels. Okay, that's it." Zhao Dazhuang directed.
"Drive the Sharma into the runner. Work on the winch."
As the Sharma moves forward in the wheel, the wheel spins rapidly. The Sharma weighs 1,100 kilograms, far more than a human. Use the Sharma to drag the trebuchet. After arriving, drive the horse into the wheel and load the trebuchet.
Jiner. The effect is much better than using six soldiers to run inside. It is faster.
The mechanism and bearings of the trebuchet made a sour sound. Workers used oil cans to lubricate everywhere. After all, it had been stored in the warehouse for a year, and the road was eroded by wind and snow. Many places were embroidered.
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Liu Sansi could see with the naked eye that the twelve-ton counterweight box slowly rose and did not stop rising until it reached a height of fifteen meters. The workers below used the handle to block the winch.
The caravan behind brought artillery shells.
In order to shoot accurately and prevent the trebuchet from shaking and moving during firing, as well as the irregularity of the shells causing messy resistance and deflection, this machine adopts a design of digging a hole to place the hoe and lowering the overall center of gravity.
Stone bullets are quickly made by using quick-drying cement and small stones in molds. These quick-drying cements can solidify in half an hour. They can be used in trebuchets because it takes ten minutes to launch a trebuchet.
The 150kg cement sphere made by the mold is very round and the wind resistance can be calculated.
"Wrap these cement spheres with straw bags, then pour gasoline on them, and put a fire tube. Pull the fire before launching. The stone balls will ignite in the air. Even at night, you can clearly see the falling of the stone bullets.
Point." Zhao Dazhuang explained.
It was already midnight at night. On the tower opposite, there were only some patrolling Mongolian soldiers walking around. They could not see the situation here. It was cloudy tonight and it was too dark.
"Mr. Zhao, we have finished the inspection. There are no problems and we can test-fire." A worker came over to report.
"Okay, each vehicle will target the south city wall and fire ten rounds each. If there are no problems, retreat back to the camp." Zhao Dazhuang said.
Then, following Zhao Dazhuang's order, the wrenches were removed from the thirteen trebuchets, and the buckles were immediately unlocked. The counterweight box roared down with a weight of twelve tons.
It hit the ground with a loud bang. The ground shook for a while. The vibration was even transmitted to the legs, and the heels felt a little numb.
