The target is 350 yards. This distance is close to the maximum range of this kind of trebuchet. The maximum range is 400 yards, which is about 366 meters.
Each bag of stone bullets weighs about 100 kilograms, and the number is about 150.
If they are all cement bombs, each weighs 500 grams. That is 200 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. That’s no good. There are big and small ones, so you 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 made of riveted steel and uses a pulley block to lift and lower the counterweight box, can be said to have achieved the highest performance of a trebuchet. It is easy to assemble and move.
Chassis system with ten rubber tires and bearing wheels, with bogie. Fixing system with hoes and insertion of underground steel pipes.
It can be towed by strong oxen and draft horses, or it can be 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 has been increased to one shot per minute, far exceeding the European trebuchets that can fire every five minutes or even ten minutes.
The Junggar people think very clearly that the camel cannon can shoot at the enemy 300 meters away, and it is difficult for the enemy to shoot at the target 300 meters away, whether it is a musket, bow and arrow projectile, or a crossbow. Although the city wall is relatively high, it can increase the shooting range.
Yes, but that's not enough.
Therefore, the Camel Cannon is very effective in suppressing fire from three hundred meters away. 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 under the city wall with siege equipment, the battle will have a chance of victory.
He Duo 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 during the city's founding period in the Tang Dynasty. Only the outline can be roughly seen.
The current intermittent trench was left behind when Yang Fan filled it with soil and repaired the rammed earth city wall. Time was tight, and Yang Fan did not have time to dig a new trench.
He Duo and Qin visually estimated that as long as 10,000 soldiers carry earth bags and throw them into this shallow trench, it will be enough to fill it up. The construction weapons and other engineering weapons behind it can be pushed up.
However, the accident still happened.
They had no idea that Yang Fan had brought the trebuchet that was eating dust in the Xincheng warehouse through water transportation.
There was actually a trebuchet in the city, which surprised him, because from the intelligence collected before, there was no mention that the Beijing camp actually brought a heavy trebuchet. And there were no signs of large-scale felling in the woods outside the city. Therefore,
They believed that the Beijing camp did not have heavy weapons.
They can't detect it at all, because all water transport ships have closed roofs and are filled with disassembled parts. Even if they see the parts, they can't recognize what it is, let alone know its performance.
.
The key is that they came from the Western Regions. They didn't make too many preparations for the Ming Dynasty. They didn't even have spies. This war came too hastily. In fact, both sides started the war without complete preparations.
Heduo Heqin saw a dark cloud flying out of the city and the unique sound of a trebuchet firing. His face instantly turned pale. Looking at the speed and height of the dark clouds, he knew that the camel artillery unit was doomed.
At first, he was worried about the safety of the dense siege troops advancing ahead. He had not thought that Yang Fan's trebuchet had such a long range.
These camel cannons are the weapon of their Junggars, 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 well-made trebuchets of this era only had a range of 200 meters. The crude ones only had a range of 120-150 meters. They were even within the range of bows and arrows.
But at this time, it was too late to take any measures, as dense clouds of stone bullets had already flown into the sky.
Harahu Ci, Gushi Khan, Dalai Tush and others were observing from a carriage in the distance.
Gushi Khan asked: "Why do 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 strip of black 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."
Hara 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 attached great importance to them.
"Hurry, Batu, tell my son to come back quickly, go quickly." Halahuqi 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 fire, covering the Camel Artillery line like a heavy rain.
Pah, pah, pah, pah! Puff! Puff! The sound sounded. The ground stirred up dust all over the sky.
A stone bullet weighing one kilogram 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 walked and got under a standing camel. Because the camel was dragging ammunition, it did not lie down. And the camel was also at the gun position.
About ten meters behind.
As soon as He Duo and Qin got in, stone bullets fell down. He saw with his own eyes the dense stone bullets falling down like a heavy rain.
One hundred trebuchets each threw out nearly 200 stone bullets, and nearly 20,000 stone bullets 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 projectiles?
Regardless of whether it is a human or a camel, as long as it is hit, blood and flesh will fly everywhere in an instant, limbs will be shattered, and bone fragments and flesh foam will 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 the broken stones and rolled to the ground wailing.
The bronze cannon body was directly smashed and flattened. The camel cannon was directly scrapped.
He Duo and Qin's hearts bleed. Metals are not cheap in the Western Regions either. Especially copper, which is also very scarce here, is not much lower in value than in the Ming Dynasty.