kingdom of nations

Chapter 82: Attack the City! (2)

This type of catapult is not the simplest. Chirac showed them the simplest one, which is a large cross placed flat on the ground. An elastic wooden pole is inserted in the center of the cross. At the other end of the wooden pole is a spoon-shaped loader, and its end is tied with an animal tendon or leather rope. The tendon is tightened on a winch. When it is needed to launch, the tendon can be cut or the mechanism can be knocked open.

It may be only one person wide and two people high, and it is not very powerful or has a long range, but it is easy to manufacture and carry.

Heavy catapults like the Wild Ass have a base and width that are basically the same, and their structure is more complex and sophisticated. At least the one Cesar saw had a rotating platform and a special support that could adjust the rising angle, with capstans on both sides, and the elastic beams were reinforced with circles of leather ropes - and it didn't project stones, but crossbow arrows.

To Cesar, it looked like the prototype of a gun. The crossbow arrow was the bullet, and the kinetic energy generated by the elastic beam was the thrust generated by the gunpowder. The elastic beam hit the end of the crossbow arrow, launching it out and destroying everything within the effective distance.

Of course, most trebuchets, as their name suggests, still projected stones. However, some had a leather bag instead of a concave loader at the end. "This can be used to hold many things," Heraclius glanced at Cesar, "such as a reckless fool."

Baldwin chuckled. He knew that Heraclius was still blaming Cesar for his impulsive behavior three years ago. No matter how others praised him, as a parent, if he had a choice, he would only hope that his child would be safe and sound. Cesar and Heraclius had no blood relationship, but in the church, the relationship between priests and disciples was almost equivalent to that of father and son.

If there had been a slight mistake at that time, Cesar would have been stuffed into a leather bag by Walter and thrown from the castle wall of Tortosa into the camp of Amalric I.

There were also some parts that belonged to the catapult, which were so big that if Heraclius had not explained them, they would not have been able to recognize what they were. Even Cesar was no exception. What he saw in the book was completely different from what he saw in person - those thick and tall wooden beams, those things that looked like carriages and houses, those hamster wheels - and so on?
"Those are running wheels," Heraclius said after just one glance. "They're used on large and extra-large trebuchets."

That kind of catapult cannot be assembled unless it reaches the battlefield, and once assembled it cannot be moved at all. It is not only large but also heavy, and the counterweight box may carry tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds of soil. When in use, it not only requires several people to pull it together, but also requires running wheels on both sides - two people step on the pedals side by side, and the principle is similar to that of a pedal waterwheel... in order to operate.

However, this type of catapult cannot stabilize itself by its own weight. It requires iron parts and rivets at the connection points, and the most important pillars must be driven into the ground to ensure that it will not shake or even overturn.

In comparison, the styles of siege hammers, siege vehicles and siege towers have not changed much in the past thousand years, only the height and size have been greatly improved.

"It's 'tortoises,'" Heraclius said. "Some call them 'rats,' but that doesn't matter. No one will think you're trying to curse your enemies when you shout 'rats' or 'tortoises.'"

Whether it is a turtle or a mouse, it looks like a low house. It can even be said that it is stronger and more reliable than most serfs' houses. They usually have a triangular roof and four wheels at the bottom. When on the move, the soldiers hide under the roof and push the bunker. When fighting, the roof will be covered with wet cowhide to prevent it from being ignited by the enemy's flames.

Siege hammers are usually installed in these bunkers. Their metal heads are cast into ram heads or turtle heads. The metal heads are installed on a thick wooden beam suspended on a rope. At first, they were pushed by people, but now most of them have been changed to fixed wooden beams. Siege hammers driven by winches and tendons are installed on the wooden beams. Sometimes siege hammers can also be replaced with giant spears.

"Is this basket not finished?" Baldwin asked doubtfully, holding up a basket. The wicker basket was big enough to fit him in, but it had a square hole on one side, about the size of a human face. "This is also a kind of mobile shelter," Heraclius said, patting it viciously and putting Baldwin directly in.

"You should try it too."

He said this to Cesar again, and Cesar had no choice but to put them in a wicker basket. The two handsome and elegant apprentice knights immediately turned into two ridiculous basket-carrying people. Heraclius nodded with satisfaction, and it was hard to tell from the outside how much he was laughing in his heart, but Cesar knew that Heraclius had always been a very vengeful guy, and never missed any opportunity to laugh at others.

Amalric I has always been mocking his previous unsuccessful attack on Egypt. God knows if this is one of the reasons why Amalric I was determined to capture Fustat this time.

He believed that in the next few years, whenever there was a banquet, the after-dinner conversation would definitely include "basket people".

"This is a ladder." They all recognized it, but this ladder was obviously larger and longer than an ordinary ladder, and there was a detachable hook on the top. This was the same as the "crow" gangway used on ships. Once it was hooked on the parapet, it was difficult to lift it up and push it down by manpower alone. However, the defenders would often use a rope with a heavy object hanging from it to push the ladder away by pulling it sideways.

"This is used in some small gaps that are occasionally opened." Heraclius said, and then they came to a workshop that was also busy but it was unclear what was being done.

"This is where siege towers are made." Siege towers are often built higher than city walls, that is, up to a height of about one hundred feet, with about ten stories. Modern people may find it hard to believe, but this is the fact, and you can think of it as a building rather than a siege engine - its internal structure is similar to that of a tower, except that there will be six or eight wheels and battering rams on the bottom floor.

It will be divided into several levels, each with a ladder for going up and down, and a wellhead for pulling up buckets vertically. This is used to extinguish fires that may fall on the siege tower. On the highest platform, there are battlements like city walls, which can be used by archers to shoot from a high position and cover the knights rushing towards the city wall from the siege tower.

The reason for this is that a siege tower would often be packed with dozens or even dozens of knights. On the second floor of the tower, roughly level with the city wall, there was a drawbridge that could be lowered. Once the tower was close enough to the wall, the siege hammers could be used to strike the wall, lowering the drawbridge. The knights would then swarm over the drawbridge and engage the defenders on the wall.

"You and Baldwin will be in this or that siege tower," said Heraclius. Although he was not the kind of person who would spoil a child like a woman, he knew that in Alaska, no matter how noble and kind you are, if you are considered a coward, it will be difficult for you to gain people's respect.

Baldwin was like this - so when he was diagnosed as a leper, everyone thought he would be deprived of his position as heir and expelled from Alazarus, because Alazarus did not need a monarch who could not lift a sword and lead his knights on the battlefield.

The same thing happened to Cesar - if he was timid and didn't dare to fight the enemy on the battlefield, all his previous good deeds would be wiped out, and some people might even feel cheated and retaliate against him even more severely.

"You won't be the first wave," Heraclius said solemnly, "but you'll be either the second or the third. While you wait, pay close attention, learn as much experience as possible, and stay calm... I know you've been through several battles before, but that kind of battle, compared to a siege, especially one as large as Fustat, is like heaven and hell."

"And the enemies you face are certainly Saracens who have received enlightenment from their prophets. They are vastly different from the enemies you've encountered before. They also have the same things you relied on before, perhaps even sharper and more solid, and they also have more accumulated experience than you.

You must be careful and not be careless."

"We will," Baldwin replied, "but Heraclius, can we please take down the basket for now?"

This time it was Cesar's turn to chuckle.

The two apprentice knights took the basket at the perfect time. Just as they were tidying up their clothes, a servant came to Heraclius on horseback. It was said that during the military meeting of Amalric I, several adults had some disagreements about the subsequent layout and advancement methods, and the dispute was endless. Amalric I could only send someone to ask Heraclius to go back to see if he could come up with any good suggestions.

Heraclius had no choice but to put aside today's lessons and return to the Afar Palace with his two children.

Although the Al-Afar Palace had been implicitly referred to as a brothel by the Saracens, when it was first built, the designers and craftsmen were still full of love and respect for the royal family, so every place was made as beautiful as possible without any omissions. All the buildings, from top to bottom, were guaranteed to have halls, meeting rooms, bedrooms and reception rooms. These rooms were connected by corridors and courtyards, and the walls were inlaid with scriptures and mosaic geometric patterns, which were extremely dazzling and exquisite.

However, King Amalric I probably had no time to appreciate these beautiful things. He and several adults, the Count of Tripoli, the Grand Duke of Antioch, the Grand Masters of the Knights Templar and the Knights Templar, as well as several respectable dukes and earls, were discussing the subsequent siege war.

In this situation, even Prince Baldwin could only remain silent and serve as a servant with a wine jug in his hand, but Cesar and he immediately understood that according to the original plan of Amalric I and the adults, they would directly attack Fustat, but now there was a new problem.

Fustat is a city that is no less big than Alazarus. It is the capital of the Fatimid dynasty. It has three layers of walls and three gates. There are two huge towers beside each gate. They are like a solid leather belt tightly tied around the waist of the beautiful woman Fustat, protecting her from invasion by foreign enemies.

On the left side of Fustat is the Nile River, but the large island of Laodai in the Nile is only a narrow river channel away from the city wall of Fustat. It became a natural flank position for Fustat. Since Saladin of Zengid and Shirku came to Fustat, they began to build a fortress on Laodai Island.

The fortress has now been built, and at some unknown time a drawbridge and a bridge have been built between the fortress and Fustat.

"Who can tell me?" Amalric I asked angrily, "How did these bridges suddenly appear? Did the devil help build them?!"

(End of this chapter)