Chapter 569: Preparing for the Siege of the City and Building Equipment
"Kill...!"
On the same night, Xin Fang'er led 3,000 cavalry to attack Gaochang's moraine... At this time, the defenders of Gaochang Mokou did not defend at all, and Xin Fang'er unexpectedly entered the moraine.
The 2,000 Gaochang defenders at the mouth of the moraine were directly captured without even having time to struggle.
Only one defender of the moraine fled overnight with less than a hundred defenders of the moraine.
Wait until the next day, Hou Jun gathered a large army to press the border, at this time, the entire Gaochang Kingdom knew that the big thing was not good, and the king of Gaochang Kingdom, Lu Wentai, was still in his palace on the eve of the previous year, watching the dancers in the palace dance.
Originally, he thought that he could live like this forever.
But who knows, when I woke up, my palace gate was slammed, and then it brought a lot of news that the army of the Tang Dynasty had captured the moraine, and now it is less than two hundred miles away from Gaochang Kingdom.
As soon as he said this, a mouthful of blood spurted out of the mouth of Gaochang King Lu Wentai, and he fell backwards with Lu Wentai, unconscious.
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"Hou Junji, Xue Wanjun see His Royal Highness the Chief...!"
At this time, in the big tent of Hou Junji at the mouth of the moraine, Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun knelt down on one knee to see Li Zhan, Li Zhan smiled and helped the two of them up and said: "Manager Hou, Deputy Manager Xue, you have worked hard, it is the credit of the two of you who can successfully attack the mouth of the moraine this time, but I don't know, why did you two invite me over?" ”
"Your Highness, please be seated...!" Hou Junji gave up his position to Li Zhan, and then sat down with Xue Wanjun under Li Zhan.
Li Zhan sat down, and then listened to Hou Junji: "It's such a highness... We have now arrived at the moraine, and two hundred miles ahead is the capital of Gaochang State, but I think that at this time, Gaochang State should have also known the news that we had broken through the moraine.
So a night attack like yesterday's is no longer of much use, so let's attack hard. ”
"It's just that Your Highness, you should know too." Xue Wanjun said: "The siege battle is the most consuming of soldiers, we only have 50,000 people here, if we pile up all our soldiers to attack the city, it is unwise." ”
"That's right...!" Li Zhan immediately nodded and said: "Brothers, follow us all the way from the desert, if you die on the way to the siege, it will really be a pity, Chief Hou, Deputy Chief Xue, what do you mean?" ”
"Your Highness... A hundred miles ahead, I found a place called Liuyun Valley, where there were a large number of trees... So I think we can build siege engines in the mountains of Liuyun Valley, so that we don't need soldiers to charge, we can rely on siege engines to attack...! ”
After Hou Junji finished speaking, Li Zhan laughed and said again and again: "Okay... Good... Manager Hou really deserves to be the chief manager, and this strategy is very good. ”
"Thank you, Your Highness, for the compliment... So this time, we invited His Highness to come over, hoping that His Highness could be stationed in Liuyun Valley and help us supervise the construction of siege equipment. Deputy Chief Xue and I will protect His Highness on both wings! ”
Hou Junji's words, Li Zhan also nodded and said, "Okay... I took this task, a month, as long as a month, I, Li Zhan, must make enough siege equipment, and when the bureau comes, I will definitely break through Gaochang. ”
"Yes...!" Hou Junji and Xue Wan immediately knelt down on one knee.
In this way, the next day, the whole army entered Liuyun Valley, and what Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun did not expect was that in fact, the two invited Li Zhan to enter Liuyun Valley, and they hoped that Li Zhan would supervise the construction of siege equipment.
In fact, the biggest hope of the two of them is that they can protect Li Zhan in it, you must know that the Tang army has been exposed at this time, so it may be attacked by the Gaochang army and the Western Turks at any time.
If Li Zhan was exposed, Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun would be uneasy.
Just like the emperor's personal expedition in ancient times, you think that the emperor's imperial driving personal expedition is really fighting, swords and soldiers facing each other, don't be kidding, the imperial driving personal expedition does not mean that the emperor really wants to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy by himself, many times he hides from a safe distance and watches his soldiers fight with the enemy soldiers, so the imperial driving personal expedition may also reflect a levy word.
Now that we think about it, it is unlikely that the emperor will lead troops to fight, in case someone who does not take a long time kills the emperor, then the country will not be in chaos.
Even if the emperor was willing to go into battle to kill the enemy, those princes and ministers would definitely be unwilling. Therefore, the emperor's duty is to bring the soldiers into battle and watch the battle from a distance, which is the correct way to open the imperial expedition!
But... can't stop some emperors, he just wants to go into battle and be majestic, it can be said to be confident, but it may also be ignorance.
The emperor didn't know the horror of the battlefield, thinking that he was the pride of the sky, how could the Ninety-Five Zun die, but the ministers didn't think so, they knew what the emperor's death meant, and the emperor died and the country was destroyed, and it was what they were most afraid of if they were buried with them.
Because they failed to persuade the emperor, they would definitely not survive if the emperor died. No one on the battlefield dared to guarantee victory, and once the emperor died, it was easy for the country to be in chaos.
Therefore, ordinary generals will try their best to dissuade the emperor, if they really can't persuade them, what can they do? That can only be left to fate, but the ministers will not sit idly by, they will definitely bring the emperor the strongest team, the most powerful weapons, and a large number of supplies.
In ancient times, there were no long-range weapons, so they just had to make sure that the emperor's camp was within the enemy's range. Ensure that the enemy cannot attack, and you can ensure the safety of the emperor.
Everyone desperately defended the emperor's life, because they all knew that as soon as the emperor died, they would definitely be cold.
Li Zhan's identity is a bit like the emperor at this time, so of course Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun will not let Li Zhan be in a little danger, and just protect Li Zhan in Liuyun Valley, which is the safest.
It's just that the two of them never thought that they would get Li Zhan to Liuyun Valley to protect it, but it became the most critical move in Gaochang's victory this time.
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Liuyun Valley... This should be the place with the most trees in the entire Gaochang area, because there are no people here all year round, so the trees are very stout.
After Li Zhan's Tiger Army entered Liuyun Valley, they began to cut down trees as soon as possible.
This time, in addition to Xue Wanjun, the deputy manager, there is also a deputy manager, his name is Jiang Xingben... This Jiang Xingben used to be a master craftsman who would be a supervisor, and Li Shimin repaired Jiucheng and Luoyang Second Palace, which he built as the leader.
Li Shimin attaches great importance to this Jiang Xingben, and letting Jiang Xingben come as the deputy manager this time can explain everything.
"Jiang Xingben greets His Highness...!"
For the sake of Li Zhan, Hou Junji still told Jiang Xingben about Li Zhan's identity, and after Jiang Xingben knew it, he was also respectful to Li Zhan.
"Deputy Manager Jiang, don't be polite... What siege machine are we going to build this time? Li Zhan was also very concerned about the siege equipment at this time.
Jiang Xingben also said immediately: "Flying bridges, ladders, nest cars, Yiyi cars, Linchong Lu buses, etc...!" ”
Li Zhan looked at Jiang Xingben and smiled: "It's too miscellaneous... I'm now asking to build only three siege machines, one for ladders, two trebuchets, and three nests! ”
Of course, after Li Zhan finished speaking, he immediately gave Jiang Xingben three copies of the construction map, which were the ladder, the trebuchet and the nest car.
A ladder is a tool for climbing city walls.
It is generally composed of three parts: wheel, ladder body and hook. The ladder can be lifted up and down, and it can be carried and leaned on the city wall by manpower. There is a hook at the top of the ladder, which is used to hook the edge of the city. Wheels are installed under the ladder and can be moved.
Legend has it that the ladder was invented by the craftsman Lu Ban in the Spring and Autumn Period, in fact, it was as early as the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, and it was named "Hook Yuan" at that time. Luban in the Spring and Autumn Period improved it.
The ladders of the Tang Dynasty were much improved from those of the Warring States period. The ladder bottom frame is made of wood as the bed, six wheels are placed below, the ladder body is fixed on the chassis at a certain angle, and a movable "auxiliary ladder" is added outside the main ladder, and a pair of rollers are installed at the top. When ascending the city, the ladder can move freely up and down along the city walls, and there is no longer a need for people to carry it on their shoulders.
However, the drawings given by Li Zhan are from the Song Dynasty, and the main ladder of the Song Dynasty cloud ladder is also divided into two sections, and adopts a folding structure, which is connected by a rotating shaft in the middle. This shape is a bit like the folding flybridge that was in use at the time.
At the same time, the auxiliary ladder also appeared in various forms, making it easier and faster to climb the city to meet the enemy. In order to ensure the safety of the ladder pusher, the Song Dynasty cloud ladder learned from the Tang Dynasty cloud ladder improvement experience, the bottom of the cloud ladder is designed as a model with shielding on all sides, reinforced with raw cowhide, and the personnel can effectively resist the damage of the enemy arrow stone when the cart is close to the enemy city wall in the shed.
After Jiang Xingben finished reading it, he was shocked, followed by the nest car, which is a kind of lookout car specially used to observe the enemy. The bottom of the car is equipped with wheels that can be pushed, and two long pillars are erected on the car with solid wood, and a roller shaft is set at the top of the pillar, and a small board is tied to the roller with ropes. The slab house is 3 meters high, with 12 lookout holes on all sides, and the outside is covered with raw cowhide to prevent damage by enemy arrows.
The house can accommodate two people, and it can be raised several feet by roller cart, so that you can observe the enemy soldiers in the city during the siege.
Li Zhan gave the Song Dynasty watchtower car, this kind of car with solid wood as a pole, nearly five zhang high, the top of the plate layer, the content of a white flag to watch the enemy's movements, with a simple flag with the following soldiers to inform the enemy.
In use, rolling up the flag means that there is no enemy, and opening the flag means that the enemy is coming; If the flagpole is horizontal, the enemy is close, and if the flagpole is vertical, the enemy will reach; The enemy retreats and slowly raises the flagpole, and the enemy has retreated and rolls up the flag.
There are wheels under the car that can be pushed back and forth; There are pedglings on the poles for the sentries to climb up and down; The side of the vertical rod is fixed with a thick rope diagonally; The watchtower itself is equipped with a rotating hinge underneath it, which can be rotated in all directions for observation. This watchtower car is taller than the nest car and has a wide field of view.
The last is the trebuchet, Li Zhan's trebuchet is also called a torsion trebuchet.... Its power is exerted by a rope or strip of leather that is wound.
It uses gears to twist the rope to create a pull, and when it is released, the rotating rope throws the throwing arm out. When the throwing arm hits the bulky curb cross, the projectile placed in the basket at the end of the throwing arm will be thrown.
Containment Henggong can be adjusted to change the projectile's trajectory. Compared to the Giant Trebuchet, the Trebuchet's trajectory is relatively flat and can produce the same power.
The intensive fire of the trebuchet is capable of causing great damage to the city walls. In addition, projectiles and fragments of the collapsed walls helped fill in the trenches, and the piles of rubble they created provided for siegers to climb into the city.
As soon as these three siege engines came out... It is already doomed to the defeat of Gaochang, and it is the defeat of the big defeat!
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