"The flying stone weighs twelve kilograms. It is used as a machine and can travel two hundred steps."
——"Fan Li's Art of War"
Since the Spring and Autumn Period, trebuchets have been used in warfare.
After many years of inheritance, it has almost become a necessary weapon for offensive and defensive position warfare.
In the Wei State, it was called "Thunderbolt Chariot" because during the Battle of Guandu in the past, the earthen towers and oars built by Yuan Shao were all destroyed by Cao Jun's stone chariots, so Yuan's soldiers were afraid and called him "Thunderbolt Chariot".
But it is undeniable that the Wei State did make some modifications to the trebuchet at that time, making it even more powerful.
Nowadays, the Han army captured some of the Wei army's thunderbolt chariots in previous battles, and the prime minister also made some modifications to make them have a longer range and make their throwing arms more durable.
The Wei soldiers and generals guarding Chencang City knew this very well.
I would like to ask, what does it feel like to be hit by more than 40 thunderbolt vehicles day and night?
The soldiers of Wei State don't know how to describe it.
But they were all frustrated.
It's not that he was hit with heavy casualties.
Also originating from the Spring and Autumn Period, city defenders had methods to resist flying rocks.
As Mozi said, "It is eight feet long and seven feet wide, and its wood is also five feet wide. In the middle, it is made of ju (ju) as a bridge, and the ropes are tied to the ends." This is what he claimed when the enemy's trebuchet showed its power when attacking the city. , the soldiers guarding the city used oranges to hang up barriers to block the missiles and play a protective role.
Therefore, under the protection of wooden castles and other objects, Chencang's defenders did not suffer many casualties.
To their helplessness, the Han army's stone-throwing was almost endless!
The Han army had more than a hundred stone-throwing carts outside the city. However, due to the limitation of being spread out in a straight line and the small attack area of the city wall, they only used more than forty stone-throwing carts. But they had the advantage of numbers. , they do not need to worry about problems such as damage to the throwing arm and engine due to frequent firing, or cracking of rivets and wooden wedges.
If one is damaged, just pull it out for repairs and just fill the gap with the other.
In this way, you can throw stones continuously.
Moreover, behind the meeting of Wei is Longshan. It is very convenient to dig into the mountain and collect stones, which also makes it easy for the Han army to store countless stones...
In fact, this is the method used by the Prime Minister to clear obstacles.
They used flying stones to destroy the archery towers on the city wall, suppressing the defenders at the top of the city from sniping with bows and crossbows, allowing the Han army to focus on pulling out the iron calabash pears, filling up the pits and moats, and burning the deer antlers and deer villages.
At first, it went smoothly.
Under the suppression of flying stones, the Han army only took four days to clear all the obstacles outside the moat.
It was when filling in the moat that there was a setback.
At this distance, the defenders on the top of the city did not need to launch their crossbows. They could directly poke the crossbow arrows from the crenels and kill the Han soldiers.
But this trivial matter could not trouble the Han army.
The prime minister asked some catapults to throw the stones and wood to the outside of the moat first. When night fell, he quietly sent his soldiers to push the stones and wood into the river.
Such an approach would not prevent Han soldiers from being sniped, and would take longer.
However, under the cover of night, the defenders' crossbows were far less accurate, and the Han army was covered by large oars and shield soldiers, so the casualties were much reduced.
Therefore, it took ten days to fill in the moat on the west gate of the city.
In addition, more than 60 of the frequently launched rock-trebuchets were completely damaged and could not be repaired.
The soldiers also suffered more than 300 casualties.
It's a price the attacker must pay.
Because when Guo Huai saw the Han army sneaking in to fill the moat at night, he saw that the bows and crossbows were difficult to contain, so he used thunderbolt chariots to smash down, making it difficult to defend the large oars.
The deer antlers and deer villages that fell along the base of the city wall were easy to clean.
Hang the jar filled with grease on the crossbow and shoot it with a long-range rhubarb crossbow. You only need to throw some rockets to solve the problem.
By early May of summer, all the obstacles outside Chencang City were destroyed.
It also kicks off the real offensive and defensive battle.
The sun is clear, the wind is light and the clouds are clear.
Outside the west gate of Chencang, flags were flying and war drums were thundering.
The Han troops filed out, shouting neat chants and pushing the ladders, wells and siege vehicles forward step by step.
On the other hand, on the top of Chencang City, which was destroyed by trebuchets day and night, most of the turrets and arrow towers have been destroyed. The yellow rammed earth at the crenellations of the city wall is exposed to the sun, and the pits and pits are even more messy.
But the large banner embroidered with the word "Wei" still fluttered in the wind, indicating the ownership of the city.
In the Han army's formation, the prime minister stood on a high chariot and watched the battle, his clothes flowing in the wind. He looked intently at the soldiers below who were looking at the city, with a hint of worry and pity hidden in his eyes.
Gein seemed to be suppressed by the catapult, but the Wei army, who watched helplessly as the Han army cleared the obstacles, actually did not exert any force.
For example, Wei Jun never used the thunder chariot hidden in the city and the bed crossbow mounted on the top of the city. Not to mention that it didn't take guesswork to know that they must have prepared countless anointing oils!
It was this method of saving supplies that made the prime minister lament the brutality of the siege.
Not surprisingly, Guo Huai waited until the Han army approached the city wall before using supplies.
Such as using thunderbolt chariots and bed crossbows to contain the high well gates pushed by the Han army, using anointing oil to burn the ladders that the Han army wanted to attach to the city head, using huge stones to smash the siege vehicles trying to break through the city gates, and blocking the Han army's attempts to board the city gates. The hope at the top of the city is stifled. Maximizing the barrier of the city wall will also allow the city to hold on longer.
The Han army, as the attacking party, had no advantage in front of the high city wall.
The only way is to consume these supplies with human lives, and to fight for the chance to reach the top of the city through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
well.......
As soon as the siege of the city began, I don't know how many good men among our great men would drink and hate themselves under this city wall, and bury their bones in the meeting of Wei, and their souls would never return to their hometown.
The Prime Minister sighed quietly in his heart.
His eyes moved from the soldiers who had already pushed the ladders, well gates and siege engines to the city in formation three miles away, to the Han army's banner and two banners at the rear.
The two flags are also very large, with black characters embroidered on the red bottom, which are "Revive the Han Dynasty" and "Return to the Old Capital" respectively.
Restore the Han Dynasty and restore the old capital...
I will never give up even if I die!
After watching silently for a moment, the Prime Minister's eyes slowly became determined.
The small flag in his hand waved down.
"winter!"
"Winter! Winter!"
Suddenly, there was a loud sound like thunder and drums.
Guan Xing, who was commanding at the front line and served as the city governor for this battle, drew his sword and headed towards Chencang City, loudly giving the order, "Attack the city!"
"war!"
"war!
"
The soldiers with high morale responded loudly and neatly.
Following the little whistles of their respective uncles, and with determination as if they were ready to die, they walked towards the city wall step by step.
But it was the rock-trebuchet that took the lead.
Gaji~~
Accompanied by the sound of the engine, the long throwing arm was suddenly released, throwing countless pebble-sized gravel into the air, making a semi-arc, and heading away from the city with a sharp whistling sound.
This time, the Wei defenders no longer huddled under the wooden city, but carried out their duties with shields and oars.
Guo Huai, who was standing in front of the big banner, turned a blind eye to the roaring gravel. He squinted his eyes and looked at the towering well barrier that was getting closer and closer.