The Warriors of the Three Kingdoms

However, he still has confidence in his city wall, and he doesn't believe that Liu Zheng can break through the city in such a short time.

"Hmph, stop talking nonsense, call in if you have the ability, don't use your tongue here!"

Fan Xiong replied coldly, wanting to see if Liu Zheng really planned to attack the city.

When Liu Zheng saw Fan Xiong talking like this, he naturally stopped talking, but immediately spoke to Xu Huang.

"General Xu Huang, start preparing to attack the city!"

"Yes, my lord, Wenpin! Call people!"

After Xu Huang received Liu Zheng's order, he directly ordered that nine thousand soldiers and horses be prepared to attack.

Chapter 288 Testing the Power of the Trebuchet

Of course, the siege this time is different from the last one.

Last time, Liu Zheng's feint attack was just to test the reality of Xianglin City. It only lost more than a dozen people, and it was not a real siege.

And this time he came prepared.

Not only did he build more than [-] trebuchets, but he also prepared his subordinates with more means of siege, so he was more confident.

"Xu Huang, remove the branches covering it, and let your trebuchet shoot first! Give Fan Xiong some color."

Liu Zheng first ordered Xu Huang to start testing the catapults made by Xu Huang to see if they could really break through the defenses on the city towers with these catapults.

"Yes, my lord!"

"Get on the trebuchet!"

The nine thousand soldiers and horses hadn't started to charge yet, and Xu Huang brought up the trebuchets that had been prepared at this time. In fact, these trebuchets had been placed here a long time ago, but in order not to be exposed, they were kept on the ground all the time. It didn't show up.

Now it's finally time to test their strength, and there is no need to hide it anymore.

The seventeen trebuchets that Xu Huang spent nine days manufacturing finally showed his true face in Mount Lu.

A boxy three-dimensional square structure is made up of several thigh-thick wooden piles, and the bearing in the middle undertakes the role of the lever.

On the other side is a circular wooden frame, in which some stones have been placed in advance. These stones are all stones that Liu Zheng ordered people to dig out in the past few days, and they have been prepared in advance. here.

The purpose is to provide ammunition dropped by trebuchets.

More than a dozen trebuchets were divided into two arrays by Xu Huang, one in front and one behind.

"Load ammunition! Ready to pull the rope!"

Two soldiers were responsible for loading the ammunition with stones, and on the other side, eight soldiers pulled eight ropes tied together at the same time, so that the stones in the wooden frame could be thrown out in a short time.

Take a small team as the operator of a trebuchet.

After Xu Huang gave an order, the eight people began to shout together, and pulled the rope in their hands vigorously. The eight people worked together, and the bearing was pulled and swung immediately.

The stones in the wooden frame were also thrown out at this time.

The stone was thrown in a perfect parabola in the sky.

Then it fell heavily and hit the tower directly.

boom!

Clang!

Boom boom boom!

Stones from seven or eight catapults flew into the sky, and according to Xu Huang's initial test, they landed smoothly near the tower.

Seven or eight huge stones weighing nearly a hundred catties, although only two hit the tower, and the others were more or less deviated from their positions and did not fall on the tower, but these thrown stones still played a role. Huge effect.

Especially the two big stones that fell on the tower directly killed the guarding soldiers on the tower, and even a large piece of the battlements that had been built were directly smashed off.

The scattered stones were scattered all over the place. Before the soldiers of Lin Yiguo on the city tower could react, the second round of catapults came one after another.

However, the second round of throwing was not so smooth. None of the stones projected by the eight trebuchets landed on the tower, either because they were not strong enough to hit the tower, or they were too powerful to fly After passing the tower, it smashed into the city of Xianglin.

The first round of trebuchets finished throwing, and then it was time to fill the ammunition, with some time buffers.

Fan Xiong, who had escaped the catastrophe, stood on the tower with a livid face, looking at the trebuchet pulled out by Xu Huang outside the city, lost in thought.

"What is this, and why is it so powerful?"

During the period when Fan Xiong was the king of Linyi Kingdom, Linyi Kingdom had hardly fought a war, and even if it was a war, he, the king, did not need to play at all.

Therefore, I don't know about the battlefield gadgets such as trebuchets. After all, trebuchets were not widely used in the Three Kingdoms period.

The reason why it is not widely used is that the accuracy of the manpower-pulled trebuchet is too low. During the siege battle, although the trebuchet can throw stones weighing tens of catties, if it cannot hit the target accurately, it will only Just doing useless work.

However, the shock caused by the catapults was not small at this time. Fan Xiong was stunned by these catapults. Fortunately, after two consecutive projections did not cause too serious damage to the tower, Only then did Fan Xiong feel a little relieved.

Xu Huang ordered people to shoot another three rounds.

A total of fifty shells were thrown out, but only five or six shells finally hit the stones of the tower.

The hit rate is only one tenth.

"Hahaha, Liu Zheng, I thought you had some powerful means, didn't you think it was just like that?"

"Fortunately, I still have some expectations. If it's just like this, you smashed my Xianglin City. I'll see how you smash it!"

Fan Xiong bravely stood on the tower and shouted loudly towards the outside of the city.

Seizing this opportunity, he had to taunt Liu Zheng a few words.

When Liu Zheng heard Fan Xiong's words, he didn't respond to Fan Xiong. Instead, Xu Huang blushed because of Fan Xiong's words. He was slapping Xu Huang in the face, saying that Xu Huang made these trebuchets Useless.

In fact, if the trebuchet is well made, the hit rate can be greatly improved, but Xu Huang has only seen this trebuchet before and knows the principle of the trebuchet, but he has never really observed the trebuchet carefully.

This is the first time he has played with this thing, and it is already remarkable to be able to make it and throw the stones out. Naturally, the hit rate cannot be too strong.

"My lord, look at Fan Xiong, he is too arrogant and bullying, give an order, I will lead a wave of people to kill, break open the city gate, and capture him alive!"

Xu Huang was so angry that he wanted to lead someone to charge in person.

But Liu Zheng stretched out his hand and stopped Xu Huang.

"Hey, brother Xu Huang, what's the rush, you forgot, I haven't shot my trebuchet yet!"

"yours?"

Only then did Xu Huang think of it, and Liu Zheng's trebuchet had never been tried, but in Xu Huang's heart, he didn't have much hope at all. After all, his trebuchet didn't play its due role. What effect can a trebuchet have?

"Yes, open your eyes and take a good look, don't be scared for a while."

Liu Zheng patted Xu Huang on the shoulder, and then with a wave of his hand, his team of 100 people started to move.

In groups of five, they stood next to twenty trebuchets, waiting for Liu Zheng's order.

Chapter 289 New Elastic Catapult

Xu Huang looked at Liu Zheng's men and stood beside the catapults. Although he didn't hold out any hope, he was still patient and planned to see if Liu Zheng's catapults were really useful.

Liu Zheng didn't hesitate, and after all the staff arrived, he gave the order directly.

"Open the branches and prepare to shoot!"

The branches placed on the twenty trebuchets were removed, revealing the appearance of Liu Zheng's twenty trebuchets.

It is said to be a trebuchet, but in fact the trebuchet made by Liu Zheng is more like a crossbow bed, a huge base with a thigh-thin wooden pole erected in the middle.

A huge bow and arrow hung from a wooden pole.It's just that the bowstring is held down by another central axis.

At one end of the central axis is a wooden frame, in which many stones are placed.

"emission!"

After Liu Zheng saw that the personnel were in place, he immediately gave orders to those people.

Among the five people, one person walked out, and pulled out the wooden pole that stuck the main bowstring at the place where the main bowstring was stuck under the trebuchet.

Immediately, the bowstring was dialed back to the normal position, and then the center shaft was bounced together, and the stones that were prevented from being in the wooden frame of the center shaft were thrown out like this.

The stones in this wooden frame weighed two hundred catties, and the power thrown by the huge bowstring was far beyond the strength of several people working together. This kind of force was fixed, and using the elasticity of the bowstring, the lethality was stronger.

With a bang, the first stone thrown out landed on the tower.

A big hole was smashed directly on the tower, and a small half of the wall on the tower was cut off by huge stones. At the same time, the exploded stones splashed all around, and injured many soldiers of Lin Yiguo who guarded the city.

This is not over yet, after the first shot of stones was thrown out, the other ten catapults were also pulled out of the wooden rods that suppressed the bowstrings at this time.

Whoosh whoosh!

Huge stones were projected out one after another, aiming directly at the city wall.

In the first round of shooting, Liu Zheng's twenty trebuchets also had a low hit rate.

After all, the previous run-in was not very good, and no detailed distance test was done.

Of the twenty trebuchets, only three actually hit the tower.

However, Liu Zheng's trebuchet was reloaded very quickly. In addition to re-drawing the bowstring, the whole process of moving stones took less than 3 minutes.

And after the first round of projection, the distance of each trebuchet was clear, and the soldiers and horses in charge quickly readjusted the position of the trebuchet.

Because of their small size, it doesn't take too much effort to carry them, and it's easy to change the projection direction of these trebuchets.

A few minutes later, the second round of shooting continued.

There was another rumbling sound, and the stones smashed on the tower, further aggravating the injuries of Xiang Lincheng, who had been smashed by the previous rounds of attacks beyond recognition.

Moreover, this time the second round of shooting, the hit rate has obviously been greatly improved.

Of the twenty trebuchets thrown out, seven of them hit the tower.

The stones projected by the seven trebuchets were not Xu Huang's trebuchets. Not to mention the low hit rate of Xu Huang's trebuchets, and the weight of the projected stones was not enough.

The stones projected by Liu Zheng's trebuchets were not only heavier than Xu Huang's, but also more accurate.

After only three rounds of projection, the soldiers and horses stationed on the tower of Xianglin City had already been damaged a lot, and the remaining ones did not dare to continue to carry them on the tower because they were afraid of being crushed by stones. Hit, accidentally died under the flying boulder.

And at this time, Fan Xiong on the tower realized that Liu Zheng was not joking with him when he said that Xianglin City would be breached in ten days.

"It's over, it's over!"

At this time, Fan Xiong's face changed drastically. Looking at the trebuchets below the city, he fell into panic. He didn't dare to stay on the tower anymore, for fear that if a stone fell down, he, the king, would die accidentally on the tower. die.

And those who felt surprised were not only the people in Lin Yiguo, but even Xu Huang who was standing beside Liu Zheng was surprised by the terrifying power of Liu Zheng's trebuchets.

"My God! Your trebuchet is too powerful, my lord. Did you really make it!"

Xu Huang opened his eyes and looked at Liu Zheng's trebuchet.

Liu Zheng's trebuchet not only casts heavy stones, but also requires less manpower, and even the accuracy is easier to adjust.

This made Xu Huang, who also built the trebuchet, unable to believe it. If he hadn't seen Liu Zheng lead the design sketches with his own eyes, and then continuously tested and assembled them, he would not have believed that these trebuchets were made by Liu Zheng. of.

"Hahaha, Brother Xu Huang, have you conceded defeat now? Did I win our bet!"

"Admit defeat and admit defeat, my lord, what is in your head? Just relying on my few words, you can come up with such a thing. If this thing came out a year earlier, when we were in Hulao, we would have been afraid. The guards at Hulao Pass? Just bombard him with this trebuchet!"

Xu Huang gave up immediately, and then remembered that when Hulao was closed, there was no need to use any fire attack at all, and he could just smash it with a trebuchet, and he could break through the Xianglin City just like today.

"If it was made a year earlier, wouldn't it be learned by the officers and soldiers? We will be the ones who will suffer at that time. It is not too late to come out now. This will be our siege weapon in the future!"

"My lord, we are running out of stone materials, so leave the siege to me."

Although Liu Zheng and the others sent a lot of people to get stones, after Liu Zheng and Xu Huang's trebuchets continuously projected them, more than ten tons of stones were consumed in this way.

After Liu Zheng heard Xu Huang's words, he was not in a hurry.

"Hey, don't worry, the stones are gone, but it doesn't mean that my ballista catapult is useless. Let me show you another function of my thing!"

Xu Huang was stunned by Liu Zheng's words, and then confused for a while, not knowing what Liu Zheng meant by these words.

"Come on, bring me some wood!"

Liu Zheng yelled at another group of people, and then some excess wood from the previously felled trees was pulled over.

Although these meter-long trees are not thick enough to be used, they are completely enough for Liu Zheng to use as projectile spears.

The central axis of the crossbow bed is used as a bracket, and the wood is erected on it, and the branches and leaves are cut off, leaving only the middle wooden pole. After the bowstring is pulled, the principle of throwing it is the same as that of a trebuchet.

Only this time, it was wood that was projected.

Whoosh whoosh.