sweeping the world

Chapter 583 The Benefits of Equipment
A well-fortified city can achieve the established strategic goals without attacking it, so there is no need to encounter a bloody battle.

Jincheng is not only a simple fortification, but also a hedgehog-like fortress. No matter from any angle, you can see the fortifications, and there are many long-range city defense weapons.

"Since it is an important military town in Liang country, it is really expected." After Xie An arrived, of course, he wanted to check the defense layout of Jincheng with his own eyes: "There is a bed crossbow every [-] steps, and a bed crossbow every [-] steps. Catapults, this is on display."

The city wall is four feet high, and the higher the height, the longer the range of long-range weapons will be. There is also a mile of defense belt outside the city. Jincheng should have taken the strikeable range into consideration when arranging the defense chain.

"There are at least four military forts of different sizes outside the main city, which are located within five miles of the main city." Zhong Xing raised his finger to the fort that was contained by the large army camp: "When we came, they were Give up and destroy that fort voluntarily."

Regarding the matter of the fortress, Xie An hadn't seen it yet, so he said, "Go and have a look."

A single city is not enough to defend, and it is impossible to withdraw all the troops into the city when defending the city, otherwise it will become a turtle in an urn. It should be that there are troops stationed outside the main city, but they can be harassed when the enemy is attacking the city. It can also create an opportunity for the main city to attack the enemy when it attracts the enemy to attack.

The military fort that Zhang's Liang army voluntarily abandoned was actually just a frame left behind, and no place that could be destroyed was intact. Most of the walls and load-bearing columns collapsed, and some information could only be identified by looking at the foundation.

"We have discovered something." Zhong Xing led Xie An to an indoor open space where the soil looked like it had been turned over: "There should be a tunnel here."

There is not much water under the surface of Xiliang, and the rock content in most of the soil is not too high. Digging tunnels is indeed not difficult.

"So, there are still underground passages between the military forts and the main city?" Xie An frowned, and he said, "With tunnels, they can get reinforcements and supplies at any time."

As for attacking and using the tunnels dug by the enemy to attack the main city, no one with a normal mind would do that.If the enemy dared to dig the tunnel in advance, they must have made sufficient preparations inside. They wanted to take advantage of the psychological preparation that the tunnel should be filled with corpses. Another large number of people will die.

The tunnel offensive itself needs to be unprepared, once it is discovered, it will kill itself.Even if they enter the city through a tunnel, the enemy army will definitely set up an ambush in advance. As soon as people go up the tunnel, they will probably face the arranged arrow formations and the siege.

"We still have to fight..." Xie An presided over a siege battle for the first time, thought for a while, and said, "The enemy's military fortress is not like the main city..."

Zhong Xing understood instantly.

The ones who came before were only forwards, and would not carry large siege equipment. When the main force came, it meant that large siege equipment should also arrive. To deal with those military forts that did not have many city defense equipment, they could use their long-range attack equipment to attack the city. The city equipment is submerged.

The main general is conscious, chooses the target to attack, and when the order is issued, the subordinates should be busy.

Zhang Chong, who regards the city tower as the headquarters, will observe the movement of the Han army outside the city when he is free.

After the arrival of the Han army, they only entered the army camp, and expanded the camp moderately. Some necessary obstacles such as horse refusal were also increased, and then a small group of troops were sent out, probably to carry water from the surrounding area, and they had already come and gone. many times.

In ancient times, the first element of building a city was water. Only areas with sufficient water sources were suitable for building a city. Otherwise, it would be a big trouble just to use water for residents.

Jincheng is located on the edge of the Yellow River. Originally, river channels were opened up to lead to the moat, and aqueducts were built to lead water into the city. These water channels were actually fortifications and a large number of military defenses.

Before Xie An led the main force to arrive, Zhong Xing had already tried to build a bridge over the Yellow River. Naturally, Zhang's Liang army would come out to harass them. The two sides fought more than ten times, but there were not many casualties between them.

"My lord, look over there..." Huang Yan raised his finger and pointed somewhere: "Those... are catapults?"

In fact, Zhang Chong had already noticed the movement of the Han army camp, and he was not surprised to see a large number of catapults being pulled out by people and animals.He has heard how the Han army attacked the cities of Shijie and Zhao, and they used an astonishing number of long-range attack devices to cover them many times. The battle of Dingxiang used the most long-range attack devices, and they bombarded nearly three of them repeatedly. moon.

"It doesn't matter." Zhang Chong must stabilize the army's morale: "There is a mile of fortifications outside the city. The enemy's equipment cannot approach. Even if they approach, they will be attacked by our army's bed crossbows and catapults. They cannot stand firm."

Huang Yan originally said that the Han army was going to attack the military fort in Jujiao, so he didn't say much after hearing Zhang Chong's words, so as not to confuse the army's morale.

What Zhang Chong is more concerned about is that the catapult vehicles of the Han army seem to be different from the appearance of Zhang's Liang army. It seems that the catapult vehicles of the Han army are larger in size, and the structure seems to be a lot more complicated. Next, It's time to see how far the range is.

Of course, Zhang's Liangguo has the technology to manufacture catapults. The style is actually the same as that of the Jin army. The range can reach up to 160 steps, but there is no need to mention the accuracy.

The catapults of Zhang's Liang army can throw stones 160 steps on the flat ground, and the range can be increased by [-] to [-] steps from the four-foot-high city wall.

According to the unit of measurement, in ancient times, one mile was 450 steps, and one step was 300 meters, so one mile was [-] meters. (Some dynasties clearly announced that one mile is the modern [-] meters.)
The range of the catapult placed on the top of the city is actually still within the range of the fortifications of the own side, and it can only be used when some of the fortifications outside the city are captured.The bed crossbow placed on it is different.

Zhang's Liangjun's bed crossbow style is still the same as that of the Jin army. The difference will only be in the selection of bow strings. For example, the Jin army lacks enough beef tendons... which means that the bed crossbow bow strings are of poor quality. , so that the range of the bed crossbow of the Jin army can only reach about 250 steps, but the bed crossbow of Zhang's Liang army can shoot [-] steps because of the excellent quality of the bowstring.

The bed crossbow at the head of the city has a range of 250 steps, and with the range increase brought by the height, the result of their experiments is that they can shoot beyond their own fortifications, and can provide long-range defense for the defenders outside the city when the enemy launches an attack. support.

"Be careful!!!"

The loud shout was issued by the soldiers of the Han army. They pushed the catapult to the nearest military fort to the barracks. When they approached about two hundred steps, the military fort launched a long-range attack.

"Avoid crossbow arrows!!!"

As soon as the words fell, the crossbow arrows fired from the military fort also lost their kinetic energy and fell, and strange noises began to appear, accompanied by the muffled groans and screams of the arrows being hit.

"Where's the shield? Hurry up and form a shield array!"

The military fort didn't just fire one wave of crossbow arrows, but a wave every once in a while. Judging from the distance, it was clearly from the strong crossbow arrows, and there were quite a few of them.

Of course, Zhang's Liang army must have strong crossbows, which can be regarded as one of the characteristics of the Chinese army. As long as it is the main force, it must be equipped with strong crossbows. The difference lies in whether there are more or less.

The strong crossbow of Zhang's Liang army is still a continuation of the style of the early Han, and the strong crossbow of the early Han was improved from the former Qin army, and the Qin army obtained technology from (Warring States) South Korea.

It can be said that since the emergence of strong crossbows, the armed forces of Chinese civilization have basically been equipped with strong crossbows. What is more strange is that in the Northern Song Dynasty, the strong crossbow technology of Chinese civilization was worse than that of Xixia. Like a treasure.The technology of the Xixia Divine Arm Crossbow is actually derived from the legacy of Li Tang.

How far the crossbow's range is the key, which also depends on the long-range penetration. The Han army's powerful crossbow can reach 450 steps, and the range of the god-arm crossbow is more than 340 steps, but the god-arm crossbow can shoot more than 240 steps. Half arrows can still be inserted into elm wood. It can be seen that the god arm crossbow still has amazing penetrating power at a range of more than 370 meters, which is impossible for the strong crossbow of the Han army.

"Where's the crossbowman? They're dead!"

"Already coming, the big guy hides again."

"This fucking..."

It should be said that the Han army was a little arrogant. Before they approached [-] steps, they tried many times. They failed to seduce the Zhang Liang army in the military fort to fire crossbow arrows, and waited for the Han army to push the catapult to the distance. They just stopped When it was time to prepare for the launch, it was a burst of shooting.

"Wind, wind, wind... gale! gale! gale!"

A warhorn came from the ear, and the sound was followed by a huge booming sound of the bowstring. What the naked eye could see was that a "big net" composed of densely packed crossbow arrows rose up on the ground, and they sent out sharp and broken waves. The empty sound moved forward in mid-air, and then covered the military fort in the distance.

The counterattack of the strong crossbow troops of the Han army came quickly and suddenly. The Liang army who formed the arrow array in the military fortress hurriedly evaded after being notified by the lookouts.

There are too many crossbow arrows. Once a person is hit by an arrow and is left in place, the crossbow arrows on his body will be densely packed, and the ground will soon become a jungle of crossbow arrows. It should be said that the entire military fort can be filled with bullets fired by the Han army. Crossbow arrows.

The needed long-range suppression came, and the soldiers around the catapult moved quickly. They left the catapult and ran back.

"What's the situation?" Sofu was a little confused. He looked out from the lookout of the military fort: "Why did you abandon the catapult and run away?"

"Congratulations, general, congratulations, general." The general of the military fortress was blowing anyway: "I killed the enemy and fled. The enemy's offensive did not take shape, and they left..."

Before the compliment could be finished, the Han army who had run away turned back again.

The catapult is the range of the strong crossbow entering the military fort. It is impossible for one's own strong crossbow troops to suppress it all the time, so of course some measures must be taken.

Leaving the catapult and running back, it doesn't mean that the catapult is discarded, but that you go back and get some coverings such as fences, shields, etc., and take advantage of the gap that your own strong crossbow troops are still suppressing, and throw the catapult. The construction around the stone cart is equivalent to building anti-arrow fortifications on the spot.

"Stack the grass up, pay attention to the support frame, and cover it with thick soil later."

"I know, I know!"

To put it bluntly, whoever stipulates that the catapult should be in an open space without obstruction, as long as it does not hinder the reloading and launching of the catapult, you can arrange it however you like.

Suo Fu was a little surprised: "The Han army...how much experience should this be?"

Later, there was something that surprised Zhang's Liangjun even more. The Han army built simple fortifications on the spot, and when they pushed the catapult again, the fortifications built could also be moved, and they pushed forward another twenty or thirty steps. , before starting the formation.

"They..." Sofu was not only surprised, but also strongly disturbed: "...still building the tunnel!"

The catapult needs stone bullets, which means it needs a supply line, so there can't be no shelter in the middle, otherwise how many casualties will be caused every time the stone bullets are supplied?
The corridor is a kind of fun, who invented it is controversial, and it is certain that it was widely used in the Qin Dynasty.The corridor for military use is a road with surrounding shelters. Its main purpose is to prevent enemy sneak attacks. The first large-scale use was by General Zhang Han of the Qin Army.

The castle master murmured, "The enemy has stopped firing crossbow arrows."

Yes, the firing of crossbow bolts stopped, but the catapults started firing.

Only three catapults fired the first round of stone bombs. They fired at a distance of about 180 steps from the military fort. After the arm swing was completed, three loud bangs were heard after a while.

Suofu could feel the ground shaking once, then again, and then three times, followed by various noises from his ears.

In fact, only one of the three stone bullets hit the building of the military fort, and the other two hit the open space.The building was hit, and the stone bomb smashed the earth wall with great force, but it didn't cause the building to collapse or the entire wall topple over. It can be seen that Zhang's Liang army put a lot of effort into building the military fort.

"The enemy cannot be allowed to use the catapults recklessly." Sofu looked at the general of the castle, and said firmly: "Organize and launch an attack, and the enemy's catapults must be destroyed!"

Even if the commander of the military castle is unwilling to carry out military orders, he also understands that no matter how strong the fortification is, it will collapse if it is repeatedly smashed. , I naturally know that I should work hard.

Xie An observed with a telescope from a distance, and looked back after seeing enough, and asked the marching commander Shi Yuanqiao, "When will the pontoon across the river be built?"

Yuan Qiao was actually at the back of the team and had just arrived. First, he asked Zhong Xing to understand the situation, and then took over the supply troops. He was in charge of repairing bridges and so on.

"If it's near Jincheng, the relatively fast water flow will take about half a month at the fastest." Yuan Qiao had no choice but to suggest: "You should investigate the surrounding river channels, choose a place with stable water flow, and don't let the shallows go."

What Xie An wanted was for the army to cross the river, and what feasible solution he could find was up to the commander of the army.

"Someone will ask the king for more troops..." Xie An was not sure, so he pondered for a while before saying, "Otherwise, we can only take risks."

Yuan Qiao frowned and nodded in agreement.

(End of this chapter)