The target is three hundred and fifty yards, which is close to the maximum range of this trebuchet, which is four hundred yards. It's about 366 meters.
Each bag of stone bullets weighs about one hundred kilograms. The number is about 150 pieces.
If they are all cement bombs, each weighs 500 grams. That's two hundred pieces.
Because they are made from molds, they are the same size and weight.
However, many of the stone bullets are made from pebbles that are everywhere on the Yellow River beach. Then there is no clue. There are big and small ones, so I can only try to pick ones that weigh about a kilogram.
If the rocker arm is lengthened and the weight of the stone bullet is reduced by half, the range can be increased to 500 meters.
This modern trebuchet, which is riveted with steel and uses a pulley block to lift and lower the counterweight box, can be said to have reached the highest performance of the trebuchet. It is easy to assemble and move.
Chassis with ten rubber tires and bearing wheels, with bogie. Fixing system with stationary hoes and insertion of underground steel pipes.
It could be towed by strong oxen and draft horses, or dismantled for transportation and assembly. Its range and accuracy far exceed all trebuchets in the world.
Because of the application of the pulley block, the rate of fire was increased to one round per minute. It far exceeds the European trebuchets that fire every five minutes or even ten minutes.
The Junggar people think very clearly that the camel cannon can shoot at the enemy three hundred meters away, and it is difficult for the enemy to shoot at the target three hundred meters away, whether it is a musket, bow and arrow projectile, or a crossbow. Although the city wall is higher and can increase the range, it is still out of reach.
Therefore, the Camel Cannon is very effective in suppressing firepower from a distance of 300 meters. I can hit you, but you can't hit me.
As long as the crenels are blocked and the defenders on the city wall dare not poke their heads out to shoot, it can provide enough safety windows for the siege troops below to approach the city wall.
As long as the army arrives at the city wall with siege equipment, there is a chance of winning this battle.
Heduo and Qin have carefully investigated and found that the trenches in Beicheng have no water at all and are very shallow. After all, hundreds of years of weathering and collapse have filled in the trenches created during the Tang Dynasty. Only the outline can be roughly seen.
The current intermittent trenches were left behind when Yang Fan filled them with soil and repaired the rammed earth city walls. Time was running out, and Yang Fan didn't have time to dig the trench again.
He Duo and Qin visually inspected and estimated that as long as 10,000 soldiers carried earth bags and threw them into this shallow trench, it would be enough to fill it up. The building trucks and other engineering weapons at the back can be pushed up.
However, the accident still happened.
They had no idea that Yang Fan had obtained the trebuchet that was eating dust in the Xincheng warehouse through water transportation.
There was actually a trebuchet in this city, which surprised him, because from the intelligence collected before, there was no mention that the Jingying camp actually brought a heavy trebuchet. There are no signs of large-scale felling in the woods outside the city. So they believed that the Beijing camp did not have heavy weapons.
They couldn't detect it at all. Because all water transport ships have closed roofs, and they are filled with disassembled parts. Even if they see the parts, they won’t recognize what they are. Not to mention knowing the capabilities of this thing.
The key is that they are from the Western Regions. I didn’t make too many preparations for Daming. They don't even have spies. This war was too hasty. In fact, both sides started fighting without perfect preparation.
Heduo and Qin saw a dark cloud flying out of the city. There is also the unique sound of the trebuchet firing. His face turned pale instantly. Looking at the speed and height of the dark clouds rising, he knew that the Camel Artillery Corps was doomed.
At first, he was worried about the safety of the dense siege troops advancing ahead. I didn't expect Yang Fan's trebuchet to have such a long range.
These camel cannons are their trump card in Junggar, and they are usually reluctant to use them.
If he had known that Yang Fan's trebuchet could cover his camel cannon, he would never have used it.
The best trebuchets of this era had a range of 200 meters. It's roughly 120-150 meters long. Even within the shooting range of the bow and arrow.
But at this time, it was too late to take any measures, and dense clouds of stone bullets had already flown into the sky.
Hara Huci, Gushi Khan, Dalai Tush and others were observing from a carriage in the distance.
Gushi Khan asked: "How come they have trebuchets? There are no signs of felling in the woods outside. Henan is full of deserts, deserts and grasslands. Where are there trees for them to use as trebuchets?"
Hara Huci said: "It can only be transported by water. We still underestimated their water transport ability."
At this time, within a few kilometers of the northern city wall, a long black band of dark clouds flew past and flew towards the camel artillery line in the distance.
Dalai Tosh was shocked and shouted: "No, this height is much higher than the height at which the trebuchets we built can fire stone projectiles. Their target is the camel cannon, not the infantry phalanx."
Hala Huci suddenly became anxious, because Heduo and Qin were commanding the camel cannons, because these camel cannons were the special weapons of the Junggar people. They take it very seriously.
"Hurry, Batu, tell my son to come back quickly. Go quickly." Hara Huqi shouted anxiously.
At this time, it was too late. Seeing dense stone bullets falling on the camel cannon battle line.
This barrage was about twenty to thirty meters wide, and the dense rain of bullets formed a straddle, covering the Camel Artillery line like a heavy rain.
Snap, snap, snap, snap! Poof! Poof! The sound sounded. The ground stirred up dust all over the sky.
A stone bullet weighing one pound dropped from a height of several hundred meters is extremely powerful.
When He Duo and Qin saw the cloud of stone bullets flying, he quickly got under a standing camel. Because the camel was dragging ammunition, it did not lie down. The location is also about ten meters behind the gun emplacement.
As soon as Heduo and Qin got in, stone bullets fell. He watched with his own eyes the dense stone bullets falling down like a heavy rain.
One hundred trebuchets each threw nearly 200 stone bombs, and nearly 20,000 stone bombs hit the gunners and camels head-on.
Whether they are humans or camels, they are all flesh and blood. How can they withstand the impact of such high-altitude missiles?
Regardless of whether it was a human or a camel, as long as it was hit, blood and flesh would fly everywhere in an instant, limbs would be shattered, and bone fragments and flesh foam would fly everywhere.
A stone bullet hit the camel cannon in front of Heduo and Qin. With a thud, the pebbles shattered and flew. The three people around were hit by broken stones and rolled to the ground wailing.
The bronze cannon body was directly smashed into pieces. This camel cannon was directly scrapped.
He Duo and Qin's hearts were bleeding, and metal was not cheap in the Western Regions either. Copper, in particular, is also very scarce here and its value is not much lower than that of the Ming Dynasty.
