Next, Ma Jun and others re-fixed the crossbow cart and changed the crossbow arrows to fire stone bullets.
They just tied a cowhide bullet bag on the bow string and put a ball of about ten kilograms in the cowhide bullet bag. left and right Stone bullets are twice as heavy as crossbow arrows, but the distance they are fired is about the same.
Moreover, the stone bullets are smashed into pieces after hitting a fixed object, and then the gravel flies around, causing a far greater sense of terror and deterrence than Crossbow arrows.
"Okay, okay, okay" Liu Cheng was overjoyed and patted Ma Jun on the shoulder and said: "Ma Jun, you have done a great job.
In just one day, we saved so much manpower and increased the number of siege equipment.
Due to your flexibility, the general now appoints you as the deputy lieutenant of the siege equipment battalion.
Your status is only lower than that of the school captain.
You will be rewarded with hardware, five pieces of cloth, two pieces of silk, five thousand coins, and a mount."
This is a huge reward.
Ma Jun was just an ordinary craftsman with the army before.
Because he had read some books, he was only responsible for doing some paperwork in the siege equipment camp.
His status was not high, but now he has been promoted continuously.
After several levels, the reward received was an astronomical sum of money in the eyes of others, and he was also equipped with a special mount.
General officials in the army did not receive this kind of treatment.
"No, I'm sorry.
Thank you so much, General, for your support."
Ma Jun cried with joy, knelt down and thanked him loudly.
Previously, he had been looked down upon by the world because of his stuttering.
No one thought highly of him, and scholars did not want to talk to him.
He once felt very inferior, so he became even worse at communicating with others.
Unexpectedly, Liu Cheng became very angry with him after seeing him.
It was attention.
Now that his talent was finally recognized, he couldn't control his emotions and cried.
Liu Cheng helped Ma Jun up and said: "Okay, okay, as long as you have talents, you can always show them in this general.
But you can't be arrogant and complacent.
This general needs you and these craftsmen to further improve these sieges."
For equipment, we can find ways to increase the power and range of crossbow arrows and stone bullets based on materials."
"Please don't worry, general.
I will do my best and never let the general down," Ma Jun agreed.
Liu Cheng then said to the soldiers and other craftsmen who were involved in operating the crossbows: "Today we can improve the efficiency of the siege equipment so much, and you and others are also indispensable.
The general now announces that each person will be rewarded with one hundred coins, and dinner will be added."
Eat meat for meals” The soldiers and craftsmen were originally very jealous of Ma Jun.
When they heard that they also had rewards, they were all overjoyed and bowed down one after another and shouted: "Thank you so much, General" Liu Cheng added: "My general is a person who values craftsmanship and craftsmanship very much.
As long as you have good craftsmanship and clever ideas, and can create sharp, lethal and destructive weapons, my general will put them to good use." , and if we want to reward him heavily, he is like Ma Jun.
His role alone is worth thousands of troops.
If we make two hundred bed crossbows, originally It takes seven to eight thousand people to operate, but now it only requires more than a thousand people to operate, saving thousands of manpower.
Isn't this equivalent to the effect of thousands of troops?
So, as long as you have talent and skills, As long as you are willing to think and work hard, I will support you unconditionally, and as long as you make achievements, I will never be stingy with your official position or rewards."
The craftsmen all gleamed when they heard this.
Everyone knew that the status of craftsmen was going to be improved.
Liu Cheng valued craftsmen so much, and the status of craftsmen would only get higher and higher in the future.
Liu Cheng was very interested in the trebuchets of this era.
When he was in Luoyang, he had been busy training troops and fighting Dong Zhuo, and had no energy to pay attention to siege equipment.
There was no need for this at the time, but it is different now.
Next, It was very likely that a siege would be conducted, and he had to understand the attack power and range of siege equipment such as trebuchets in advance.
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Liu Cheng ordered the officials of the siege equipment battalion: "Liu Xiaowei, pull out the trebuchet and let the brothers throw it a few times so that I can see the range and attack effect."
Lieutenant Liu was surprised, and then he realized what he was talking about and asked: "Master, are you talking about cannons?"
"Cannon" Liu Cheng was stunned for a moment, but he soon understood that Liu Xiaowei was talking about a trebuchet, and nodded: "Yes, it's a cannon."
Under the command of Lieutenant Liu, some soldiers set up a large trebuchet on the ground.
Liu Cheng saw that the arm of the trebuchet was more than ten meters long.
This was a trebuchet that was launched purely by human power, also known as a human trebuchet. , in the history before the Southern Song Dynasty, this kind of trebuchet was used in city sieges, until the Mongols brought the counterweighted trebuchet to the Central Plains.
This kind of human trebuchet uses manpower to pull the cannon tips connected to the crossbar at a place far away from the trebuchet.
The gun tip is placed on a wooden frame.
One end is tied with a rope to hold the leather sheath containing the stone bullets.
The other end is tied with many ropes to allow manpower to pull hard and throw the stone bullets.
The gun tips are divided into single tips and multiple tips.
The most powerful one has seven gun tips mounted on one gun mount, requiring 250 people to launch it.
This trebuchet has only one cannon, and more than thirty people are required to pull the rope to eject more than ten kilograms of stone projectiles.
The ejection distance is more than 250 steps.
If more manpower is added, it can be ejected to 300 steps.
As mentioned above, this range has exceeded the range of almost all crossbows, so the stone machine can be used to suppress the enemy's defensive city weapons.
Liu Cheng estimated that it took about a minute and a half for the stone machine to continuously throw ten stone bombs.
On average, one stone bomb was fired every nine to ten seconds.
Liu Cheng walked to the stone trebuchet and looked at its mechanism.
It was not complicated.
The firing frequency of one stone bullet every ten seconds was much stronger than the torque trebuchets of the Roman Empire at the same time, and its range was also long.
Much more.
He picked up a stone bullet, weighed it in his hand, and asked, "How heavy is this stone bullet?"
The official replied: "Back to my lord, each one weighs twenty kilograms."
"If you change to a 100-pound stone bullet, how far can it be thrown?"
"My lord, if you want to maintain the throwing distance, you must increase your manpower, to more than two hundred people."
Liu Cheng looked up at the stone machine, thought for a while and asked, "Can private craftsmen or local government soldiers also make cannons?"
The official shook his head and said: "My lord, that is impossible.
In order to prevent local forces or princes from rebelling, the construction of such siege equipment was strictly kept secret in the past dynasties.
The atlas of cannon making can only be obtained from the relevant official offices of the court.
It was found that if the imperial court wanted to conquer the princes, local officials or surrounding countries, it would He would take out the atlas and give it to the general who commanded the army, and the general would ask the craftsmen accompanying the army to build it according to the drawing.
There was no such thing in the local government, princes or surrounding countries, and no one knew how to build it.
Even the private craftsmen were told If you haven’t heard of it, how can they build it?
The most they can do is build a ladder.”
Only then did Liu Cheng understand that the imperial court was so strict about the construction and control of siege equipment.
No wonder in the past life, Cao Cao could use thunderbolt chariots to fire large-scale stone bombs at Yuan Shao's army to suppress Yuan's army, but Yuan's army had no way. , because no one in Yuan's army knew how to make a stone machine.
Cao Cao only had this technical means because he controlled the court and the emperor.
It turns out that the craftsmen and album technology for making stone machines are not something on the street, but an extremely important and advanced method in this era.
Liu Cheng couldn't help but take a deep breath and made up his mind to protect these craftsmen.
He told Zhao Ruizhao After waving, Zhao Rui came over and cupped his fists and said: "Lord" Liu Cheng whispered: "You must hurry back to Luoyang tomorrow and personally organize people to go to the relevant yamen to take out all the atlas related to siege equipment and weapon casting and keep them properly.
Remember not to be discovered by anyone, let alone leaked.
As far as the information is known to this general, this kind of album should be kept in the arsenal, and a dedicated person should be responsible for its safekeeping."
"Understood, I will make preparations now and set off tomorrow morning before the army sets out."
Zhao Rui agreed with his fists clasped and slowly retreated.
Liu Cheng asked the siege equipment battalion captain: "Liu Lieutenant, since those bandits cannot build siege equipment such as stone machines, how did they attack Taiyuan, Shangdang and other cities?"
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Captain Liu clasped his fists and said: "My Lord, since they don't know how to build such heavy siege equipment, they must use stupid methods: the first is to use siege ladders; the second is to pile up human lives.
After filling the moat After it is full, continue to pile up the soil and pile up multiple mounds.
Let the archers stand on the mounds and shoot arrows at the defenders on the city wall.
Many people will definitely die in the whole process of controlling the city's defenders.
When the defenders at the top of the city are completely suppressed, the bandits climb up ladders to attack the city.
Some dig holes in the ground to break into the city, and The walls of some cities have been in disrepair for a long time, and many of them have collapsed.
The bandit army can rush into the city without any effort at all."
Liu Cheng said to Ma Jun and Lieutenant Liu: "This kind of stone bullet is a little too small.
I just took a look at it.
Although the firing frequency of this stone firing machine is acceptable, it has two obvious flaws: First, the stone projectiles fired are too small, with insufficient destructive power and low deterrence; second, too much manpower is spent.
You see, just such a stone firing machine requires thirty or forty years of work.
Only human beings can operate the launch.
This general wants you to find a way.
While keeping the range unchanged for the time being, firstly, you must greatly reduce the use of manpower; secondly, increase the importance of stone bullets; thirdly, the stone launcher must not only be able to To fire stone bullets, you also need to be able to fire kerosene bombs.
When the kerosene bombs are launched and fall on the city wall or inside the city, they can ignite large flames.
Only by this can the enemy's gall be frightened."
Liu Xiaowei didn't understand the manufacturing of siege equipment at all.
He was only good at overall management.
When it came to technical matters, he was blinded.
He could only look at Ma Jun.
Ma Jun was more interested in mechanical manufacturing and also He was very experienced in research and manufacturing, but he also felt the pressure at this time.
This task was not light, but he still handed it over and said: "General, it takes time to get down."
Liu Cheng patted him on the shoulder and said: "Okay, I will give you time, general, give you money if you need it, and give people if you need people
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