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Volume 2 The Rise of the Zhang Family 269 The Third Day Is Coming

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    The cloud ladders and wooden ladders that were burned red by fire had been burning at the foot of the Xiaoguan city wall for several hours.

    This raging fire not only reduced the siege equipment that the Turks spent a day or two building to ashes, but also the obstruction of the fire made it rare for Zhang Yang and others to spend a quiet time in this kind of war.  An afternoon passed.

    After Qin Liyan arranged for people to take turns to watch at night, Zhang Yang, Qin Liyan, Ran Hongzhi and others left the forefront of Xiaoguan's offensive and defensive battle, Xiaoguan's city wall, and returned to Xiaoguan City.

    After dinner, Zhang Yang lay quietly on the bed in the residence that Ran Hongzhi had arranged for him in Xiaoguan City, summarizing the first large-scale siege in his life that he had experienced during the day.

    Such a tragic offensive and defensive battle made him clearly realize the fragility of human life, the brutality of war, and the difficulty of siege.

    But at the same time, others saw how heroic siege warfare in the ancient cold weapon era was and how important siege weapons were, and they were deeply impressed by the wisdom of the Chinese sages.

    Although the Turks only used a siege weapon like a ladder to attack the city today, this ladder is a must-have for siegeing a city and plundering territory. It is also the easiest to build and the least technical among all siege weapons.  A siege device.

    But it is such a thing as a cloud ladder. If the Turks' command had not been wrong and Qin Liyan had commanded it properly, otherwise today's defense of the city would not have been so easy. It was only shot by the Turks archers.  Just kill some soldiers.

    Fortunately, in today¡¯s siege battle, another essential siege weapon of the Turks, the ram chariot, has not yet come out, the big wooden hammer that will attack Xiaoguan City Gate today.  It was only carried and hit by more than 20 Turkic soldiers.

    These Turks, who have no protective measures, are the first to be hit. Today, they have no role to play at all.  But it's hard to say tomorrow. Although today's siege battle was tragic.  But the duration was too short.

    "Master, what are you thinking about in bed with a frown? What time has it been, and you are still thinking about it, and you still haven't gone to sleep?"

    Xiao Si, who had just returned from a walk outside, looked at his young master lying on the bed with his eyebrows furrowed and asked before he took a rest.

    "What else can you think about? Why don't you think about the Turks' siege today? Hey. I always thought that defending the city was a very simple matter. The old saying goes: 10 times to siege, 5 times to attack, and 5 times to fight.  , the enemy can be divided, the enemy can be escaped if the number is small, and the enemy can be avoided if the number is small.

    It really makes sense.  The walls of Xiaoguan City are thick. To break through the Xiaoguan we are stationed in, it will be twice as difficult as a normal offensive and defensive battle. If the Turks want to attack hard, they will need ten times more people.  "

    Zhang Yang was lying on his bed.  After hearing Xiaosi's question, he said to him angrily.

    "Young Master, you have already said that if the Turks want to break through our Xiao Pass, they will need ten times more people, so why are you still worrying here?

    Think about it, young master, the Turks can now use the vanguard army to attack the city, and there are only less than 40,000 people left to attack the city. Today's siege cost them another one or two thousand.  people, while thousands more were injured and lost their combat effectiveness.

    Isn¡¯t this a lot less? And our defenders at Xiaoguan did not suffer much losses in today¡¯s battle. In addition, people from Yuanzhou will continue to come for reinforcements.  Suddenly, people can only do useless work.

    What's more, as you saw today, Master, today Xiaoguan's city defense was under the command of General Qin. The defense was airtight, causing the Turks to pay a heavy price, but only dozens of people died in exchange.  More than a hundred people were injured.

    It can be seen that the Turks have to fly dozens of times as many people as we do to break through our Xiaoguan. With the current number of Turks' vanguard army, you don't have to worry at all. Even if they continue to attack the city, our Xiaoguan can still be said to be  It is impregnable.

    Anyway, I saw it today. As long as the Turks continue to attack the city like this, they are not far away from destruction. As for whether they can break through the Xiao Pass where we are stationed before they are destroyed, I don't care.

    ¡° Anyway, my task is to take care of your daily life, young master. There is no need for me, a little person, to worry about other things.  "

    " I hope this young master of my family is so preoccupied, Xiaosi said quite freely.

    ¡°You are so short-sighted, couldn¡¯t you see that in today¡¯s siege, the Turks were simply conducting a tentative attack without even showing any real strength?

    Think about it, after the army sieges the city, an army of tens of thousands of people was sent to attack the front wall of the fortress alone, and only a few ladders were used.Add some flying ladders to attack the city, it is obvious that they are here to die.

    You must know that according to the art of war, ladder tactics do not use a single ladder to fight, otherwise it will be easily destroyed by the enemy. You must first gather a large number of ladders outside the attack range of the arrows, and then use the artillery team to attack the city wall first, and then reduce the enemy's defense.  , and finally the ladder troops charge to minimize the casualties of the siege troops.

    Even with such an extremely simple tactic, our Xiaoguan garrison suffered more than 200 casualties today. This shows that these Turks are strong enough. If the fortress allows them to completely climb the city wall, that would be a disaster.

    Fortunately, today they are just playing a probing attack. If they have made all the preparations for a direct attack, then our defense today will be in trouble. Hey, today's battle will make us, the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty, not as good as before.  Tian fought against the Turks and easily won a great victory. He thought that the Turkic army was just so arrogant that it woke up.  "

    "Master, you should go to sleep. Xiao Si doesn't understand what you are saying at all, and I don't want to understand. I only know that above Xiao Pass, as long as we are here, the Turks will not even think about occupying Xiao Pass.  , What¡¯s the use of thinking so much about other things, in the end we won¡¯t have to fight the Turks with real swords and guns, so why bother yourself!¡±

    "Hey, you're right. In the end, you have to fight the Turks with real swords and guns. I thought too much. You are looking for trouble, so go to sleep!"

    Zhang Yang said so, but he still couldn't sleep.  What I kept thinking about was the Turks' attack on the city.

    Siege warfare refers to the war mode of attacking a castle, city or fortress.  According to the battle mode, it can be divided into street fighting and siege warfare. The purpose can be to seize buildings, resources, strategic locations or annihilate the enemy.

    Usually, siege warfare is a mode of war that is carried out only under forced circumstances, because it often requires paying a huge price to achieve the goal.  In the cold weapon period.  The castle is the main opponent of the attacker in siege warfare. The attacker often needs a large number of siege weapons (such as trebuchets, siege engines, ballistas, etc.) and a large number of casualties to enter the city gate and engage in street fighting.

    Until the invention of gunpowder and artillery, it was much easier to capture castles, and their defensive role was gradually replaced by fortresses.

    Since ancient times, siege warfare has occurred in China, and siege equipment has to be developed.  It can be said to be a precedent in the world.

    Ladders, catapults, bed crossbows, floor carts, flying hooks, bow bed crossbows, trammel carts, nest carts, fire chariots, fierce fire oil tanks, crash carts, fire dragons out of water, swarms of bees, trench bridges, etc.  There are so many kinds, it can be said to be diverse and complete.

    Although it was still the early Tang Dynasty, many siege equipment commonly used in later generations had not yet been invented, at least things that could be devastating to city walls and city gates had not yet been invented, which made Zhang Yang feel a little more at ease.

    But in this era, there are actually a lot of siege weapons. How can Zhang Yang feel at ease?

    ??Since the Xia Dynasty had city walls in China.  It can be said that a lot of work has been done around the city wall.

    Taking today¡¯s siege as an example, the Turks only used cloud ladders and flying ladders, not even charging vehicles.

    Not to mention, the catapult has always been the most important weapon in siege, which has huge destructive power on the defenders and city walls.

    Catapults were called ¡®cannons¡¯ in ancient times.  According to legend, the cannon was invented in the Zhou Dynasty and was called "throwing the cart".  As a means of overcoming difficulties.  In fact, the catapult is Black's cannon in Chinese chess.

    "Fan Li's Art of War" records that "the flying stone weighs twelve kilograms and is used as a machine to move three hundred steps."  The trebuchet uses the principle of leverage to throw stones out.  It consists of three parts: throwing rod, throwing frame and machine cable.  The throwing pole is equipped with a horizontal axis, and a leather bag rope is connected to the top; the machine rope is composed of dozens or hundreds of ropes.  Each rope requires 1-2 people to pull.

    During the Eastern Han Dynasty, catapults have become a highly valued siege weapon.  In 200 AD, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought at Guandu. Cao's army used a self-propelled gun, the Thunderbolt Chariot, to break through Yuan's army's wall tower and win a complete victory.

    Regarding the shape of the Pili chariot, please refer to "Jixiao New Book Volume 4": "The gun carriage uses a big wooden bed as a bed, with four wheels on the bottom, and a double bulge on the top. The bridle is horizontally enclosed, with a neutral pole, and the head is as tall as an orange.  The length and size of the base shall be determined by the city.  Its whirlwind four legs can also be used according to the situation.¡±

    The catapult is a large-scale human-powered long-range weapon that uses the principle of leverage to throw stone projectiles. Its emergence is the progress of technology and the need of war.  It began to be used during the Spring and Autumn Period, and became an important weapon for attacking and defending cities after the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

    The structure of the original catapult was very simple. It was a huge lever with stones loaded in leather sheaths or wooden baskets at the long end. Dozens of ropes were tied to the short end. When an order was given, dozens of people pulled the ropes at the same time.  Using the principle of leverage to throw stones, this is the ancient god of war.

      The first large-scale use of catapults in the history of Chinese wars should be when Li Xin (the distant ancestor of the flying general Li Guang) attacked Chu. The Chu army secretly prepared a large number of catapults. When the Qin army crossed the river, they suddenly launched them at the same time, and countless sharp stones were fired.  Dark clouds fell on the Qin army, and the 200,000 Qin army was completely defeated. Li Xin himself was defeated and committed suicide.

    Later, Wang Jian, one of the four generals of the Warring States Period, led an army of 600,000 to conquer Chu. This shows the power of the catapult at that time.  With the development of technology, catapults have become more and more advanced. The "Thunderbolt Chariot" in many Three Kingdoms games is an improved version of the catapult from the Warring States Period.  China's trebuchets reached their peak during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

    After the Tang and Song Dynasties, the use of catapults became more common.  According to records, there are more than a dozen types of stone throwing.  They are roughly divided into three categories: light, medium and heavy.  The light ones are operated by two people; the medium ones are operated by dozens of people; as for the heavy ones, they are several feet high and can fire hundreds of kilograms of stone bullets. Hundreds of people are shouting in front of and supporting each other at every turn. The scene is extremely spectacular.

    The momentum is comparable to that of the popular "Da Wan'er". Of course, cannons are indeed the star of offensive and defensive battles. Chen Gui of the Song Dynasty wrote with emotion in "Cheng Shou Lu" that "there is no weapon as powerful as cannons for offense and defense. The attacker has the skill of cannons."  , then the city can be conquered; if the defenders have the art of cannon, they can defeat the enemy." This can be seen.

    The Song Dynasty military book "Martial Arts General" says, "Every artillery is a sharp weapon in the army, and it is used by both offensive and defensive divisions." This shows the importance of catapults.  The book also introduces eight commonly used catapults in detail, the largest of which requires 250 people to pull and is 8.76 meters long.  The stone projectile fired weighs 45 kilograms and can shoot 90 steps (140.85 meters when converted into modern units according to the Song military system).

    It must be pointed out here that the "Wu Jing Zong Yao" may have greatly reduced the range of the catapult for the purpose of keeping secrets or deliberately misleading the enemy. In fact, according to other ancient book records and modern scientific calculation simulations, the range of this catapult is  The launch distance is no less than 500 meters, which can be said to be an ultra-long-range strike in the era of cold weapons.

    China is a counterweight catapult invented in the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty.  In the Battle of Bianjing that destroyed the Northern Song Dynasty, the Jin State set up more than 5,000 trebuchets overnight and attacked simultaneously outside the 50-mile-long city wall of Bianjing. The Jin army fired countless stone bullets, so that Bianjing was  There were no more rocks to be found in the suburbs of Beijing!

    When attacking the city, the moat was first filled up, and then tens of thousands of artillery were fired, supplemented by a large number of powerful crossbows.  The deployment of the city's defenders was defeated in one fell swoop, and a giant siege vehicle that was as high as the city wall and could accommodate 80 people was dispatched to launch an assault on the city.  You can imagine the spectacular launch scene at that time, which is no less than the firepower preparation on the scale of modern war!

    In addition to the catapult, the god of war, there are also many vehicles used as siege weapons.

    "Sun Tzu. Planning for Attack" contains: "The method of attacking a city is as a last resort. Repair the oars, culls, and equipment. It will take three months to complete, and it will take another three months to complete." The "oar" in it is  Refers to this kind of weapon that uses altitude to conduct reconnaissance operations.

    Another example is "Warring States Policy" Volume 12 Qi Wu "Su Qin talks about King Min of Qi": "Therefore, when the Ming Dynasty is attacking, the enemy will win if the armored soldiers do not come out of the army, if the oars are not used, the border city will be surrendered, and the soldiers and the people will not know it, but the king's industry will arrive.  That¡¯s it.¡± It can be seen that oars are absolutely important for siege.

    Due to the barrier of the city wall, it is difficult to know every move of the siege army and the defenders. Therefore, reconnaissance facilities higher than the city wall must be used to detect the enemy's situation.  There are many types of vehicles of this type, such as chariots, watchtowers, oars, flying towers, cloud towers, etc.

    The watchtower is eight feet high, supported by solid wood. A five-foot-wide house is built at the top, with an entrance and exit at the bottom. Nails are driven into the solid wood for observers (watchmen) to climb. The base is made of two branches each one foot long.  The five-foot deer-cheek wood was first buried in the soil, with only eight feet exposed. The solid wood and deer-cheek wood were fixed in the same way as tying masts on ships, and then one hundred and twenty feet, one hundred feet, and eight feet were tied to the solid wood.  Ten feet of fixed ropes at three heights to ensure stability.

    Generally speaking, there is only one watchman in the watchtower, who holds a white flag. When the enemy is on alert, the flag is rolled up. If the enemy attacks, the flag will be unfolded. If the enemy approaches, the flagpole will be turned horizontally. If the enemy retreats, the flagpole will be rolled up.  Raise the flag slowly.

    The seat of the chariot is an eight-wheeled seat, and it uses double poles as a support mechanism. The height of the poles depends on the height of the city.

    Generally speaking, city walls in the Tang and Song Dynasties were about five feet tall, so to scout the city, it must be higher than this number.  A windlass is set up on the top of the double pole to lift the observation pod. Because lifting the pod requires a lot of strength, unlike other observation vehicles, it is made of rawhide and can defend against enemies.  Rocket attack.

    The anthronium vehicle is a siege vehicle with strong protection. It was widely used in the Spring and Autumn Period.  Ancient siege operations often required approaching to destroy city walls, gates, or digging tunnels.  If there are no corresponding protective measures, these operations will be easily attacked by arrows, stones and other weapons from the city, which is very dangerous.

    It¡¯s safer to use a scooter. A scooter has a multi-wheel bottom.The sides and top are protected by wooden boards and covered with hard leather; the car can accommodate more than ten people.  When working, people are in the car and push the car to the city, and then people work under the city.

    Can avoid arrows and rocks on the city.  There are different kinds of chariots with different shapes. The flat one is called "wooden ox cart", and the one with two walls tilted inwards is called "jiantou chariot" (also called "pointed wooden donkey").

    Linchong Lugong Chariot This is a giant siege chariot in ancient times and the largest chariot in the world.  The vehicle is several feet high and tens of feet long. The interior of the vehicle is divided into five levels. There are ladders on each level for getting up and down. The vehicle can carry hundreds of warriors and is equipped with crossbows, poison arrows, guns, halberds, spears and other weapons, as well as tools for destroying city wall facilities.  instrument.

    During the attack, everyone pushed the cart to the foot of the city. The roof of the cart could be flush with the city wall. The soldiers rushed to the city through the overpass to fight with the enemy. The carts used tools such as ramming wood to destroy the city wall.  This behemoth-like chariot is not common in battles. It is bulky and difficult to exert its power due to terrain restrictions. However, its sudden appearance often has a huge deterrent effect on the defenders, thus disrupting their positions.

    In addition to these siege equipment, there are also various types of fire siege equipment, smoke, smoke balls, poison smoke balls, dust trucks, etc., which can be said to be hard to guard against.

    But when it comes to siege weapons, we have to say the same thing. It can be said that it is something that exists along with the history of Chinese sieges! Flying Hook!

    ??Flying hook, Si Yiye and Langya Pai, as the name suggests, flying hook is an iron hook tied to a rope. It is the favorite of many Liangshang gentlemen.  In fact, the flying hook has been used in sieges for almost as long as the hook itself.

    "Mozi Bei Ti", "Wu Jing Zong Yao", "Records of Military Training", and "Illustrated Weapons" all have records that during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, when the Taiping Army broke into Wuhan for the second time, it was Chen Yucheng who personally led the death squads to use flying hooks at night  The sneak attack was successful.  Even during the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, our People's Army used flying hooks many times to achieve meritorious service.

    ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out of the public eye, it is well known that the flying hook is used in siege. In fact, the performance of the flying hook in defense is not overemphasized.  Once the attacker uses a ladder to rush into the city, if you are calm enough, accurate enough, powerful enough, and agile enough, you can use a flying hook to pull the ladder down or collapse, and everyone on the ladder will fall to death.

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