Turbulent Times Chapter 1576: The application of Arabic numerals

This time, Li Shentong was well prepared, and the morale of the Li family army was high, and it was sure to win.

It is a pity that since the history of mankind, the development of some things is often very different from the expectations of the parties, or even completely different.

Holding a binoculars in his hand, Wang Junlin looked at it very carefully for a while. Li Jiajun's trebuchet was not small in size, and the imitation could be regarded as decent, but if you look carefully, you will know Found some differences.

Li Shentong obviously wanted to use the two relatively long-range attacks of the catapult and the giant crossbow to cover them. The people used the pit filling truck to bury the horse traps, and then destroyed the outermost low wall and the two trenches. offensive.

The plan sounds good, but in Wang Junlin's view, it is wishful thinking.

Wang Junlin handed the binoculars to a councilor next to him, smiled slightly, and said, "Let the other party see what the gap is, and let them see the power of the art of investigating things."

Far Eastern Army’s Engineering Battalion has four catapult teams, and each team has 25 giant catapults. At this time, all 100 catapults have been launched on their respective positions. pre-prep.

Beside each trebuchet, polished rocks were prepared, and the soldiers in charge of the operation were full of confidence and disdain, just waiting for the Li Jiajun to be sent from Shuozhou City after all. Or the various instruments that took several days to build were smashed into pieces.

The configuration of positions in all directions is the same as the previous days. The front line defense of the Chinese army is 5,000 infantry soldiers. Each soldier holds a steel string bow. As long as the enemy can enter the attack range, they will shoot and cover Shooting, the giant crossbow also set up its position behind the ice wall poured with corpses at the front line, next to the winding machine.

Although Wang Junlin and even the Far East Army are confident that they can repel the enemy with long-range attacks alone, the 5,000 cavalry are also strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the combat regulations, and are ready to charge at any time on the two wings of the infantry phalanx .

On the opposite side, 20,000 armored cavalry of the Li family army were at the rear of the Chinese army, and another 20,000 light cavalry followed 30,000 infantry pushing giant crossbow shield carts and pit filling carts forward.

There are also 8,000 light cavalry deployed on the left and right sides of Li's army, obviously to prevent the cavalry wings of the Far East Army from attacking.

Only from the overall layout, Li Shentong is extremely sophisticated and steady.

Obviously, Li Shentong was thinking that as long as his siege equipment worked, he filled the horse trap and suppressed the Far Eastern Army's long-range attack, he would let his light cavalry and even their 20,000 armored cavalry charge forward. , thus conquering the camp of the Far Eastern Army in one fell swoop.

The Li family army had a lot of long-range attack equipment, which more or less put some pressure on the soldiers of the Far East Army.

Excellent armor has always been an important factor or the biggest advantage of the Far East Army's strong combat power. Gunpowder packs have blown up many city walls, and giant guns and crossbows are a great weapon that can be used in city defense, siege, and field battles. A sharp weapon, the Baifa crossbow is a life harvester on the battlefield.

For a long time, Li Shimin has done everything he can to obtain the powder formula of the Far East Army's black gunpowder and the method of making steel, as well as the methods of making advanced equipment such as the Hundred-Fat Crossbow and Nine-Burst Fast Crossbow. Neither money nor the lives of elite human spies have acquired core technology. Although there are similar equipment imitated, the difference in power is still very large

Big ones.

Therefore, the reason why the morale of the Far Eastern Army can be invincible, and no matter where the enemy is facing, it can maintain the confidence of victory and high morale. The huge advantage of weapons and equipment is a very important factor.

At this moment, the relaxed atmosphere at breakfast had long since disappeared, and the Far Eastern Army's barracks, inside and outside, and before and after battles were all silent and desolate.

It didn't take long for the cavalry at the front of the Li Family Army to reach the effective range of the Far East Army's giant catapults and giant crossbow guns.

But Li Jiajun's own catapults and giant crossbows were obviously far from reaching the shooting position where they could hit the Far East Army, so they could only move on.

"Scare these copycats first." Wang Junlin's order was understated, even a little frivolous, but when this order was executed by the four catapult teams, it was extremely terrifying.

The giant catapult behind the infantry phalanx of the Chinese army, the long throwing rod was instantly flattened by the force of the gears, and the loader quickly loaded the catapult. The hammer smashed bitterly on the raised shooting mechanism, and an extremely stable force instantly threw the throwing rod up at an extremely fast speed. A round rock the size of an adult's head formed a parabola at an extremely fast speed and flew towards Li Jiajun. The army that was attacking strictly obeyed Wang Junlin's order, and the target was a rock-throwing locomotive of Li's army.

The tens of thousands of troops on both sides watched the trajectory of this stubborn stone projectile intently. so far.

As a result, many people in the Far Eastern Army sighed secretly. The stubborn stone missed the intended target, but it was only two or three feet away from the rock-throwing locomotive.

However, it hit the head of a soldier of the Li family who was unable to dodge while pushing the catapult locomotive.

Such a result was expected by the top and bottom soldiers of the trebuchet team, as well as Wang Junlin and other senior officials of the Far Eastern Army, because they all knew that the first round was originally used for trial adjustment, and the first single round could be so small. The error is enough to see how accurate the giant catapult of the Far East Army is, and the next projectile only needs a slight adjustment to hit the target.

"This must be a blind cat meeting a dead mouse." Many soldiers of the Li family army thought so, especially those who also operated the trebuchet.

Only Li Shentong and a few senior members of the Li family army were thinking about what would happen if the Far East Army had thrown gunpowder packets just now?

But even if the gunpowder pack is not used next, all the soldiers of the Li family army will soon know how outrageously wrong they are.

Four catapult teams of the Far East Army, one hundred giant catapults projected at the same time, more than 70% of them hit the target, and nearly half of these catapults hit Li Jiajun's catapults, Pit filling vehicles, shield vehicles, bed crossbows and other equipment.

In one round of shooting, two-fifths of the equipment that Li Jiajun relied on was lost. In other words, according to this situation, as long as the Far East Army fired three rounds, Li Jiajun's equipment would basically be handed over here. up.

The so-called "the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment", such a result immediately hit Li Jiajun up and down.

The high morale of these equipment suddenly dropped instantly.

These days, because of the lack of long-range attack methods such as trebuchets, the Li family's army was at a disadvantage. They thought that their equipment had finally been transported from Shuozhou City to turn the situation around, but they were extremely disappointed in the end.

In an instant, Li Shentong felt that the morale of the army under his command had begun to shake, and his face was extremely ugly. Where you can shoot, start to counterattack with trebuchets, and the situation will change.

Wang Junlin watched the four trebuchet teams show off their power and prestige. He was delighted but also deeply moved.

Only ten people are needed to operate a giant trebuchet, and these ten people are a trebuchet gang, and the gang leader is responsible for commanding and operating the final launch.

At this time, it can be seen that these gang leaders have loud passwords, skillfully directing the people in their gangs from taking stone bullets, to adjusting the counterweight, to aiming, then loading stone bullets into the trebuchet, and finally throwing the stone bullets .

The giant catapults of the Far Eastern Army are far more powerful than ordinary catapults, and the stones they throw are also heavier, not to mention the accuracy. Although they only have a 70% hit rate, this It was already an incredible thing for a trebuchet. If a hundred more trebuchets were fired at the same time, it would mean that 70 bullets would hit the intended target each time.

The reason why the Far East Army’s giant trebuchets are accurate is not only due to its own structure, but also because it has its own method of calculating shooting and shooting parameters that can be followed, which includes the arm length of the throwing rod, The counterweight, the distance from the target, the weight of the stone bullet, the position of the giant trebuchet, etc., have been rigorously calculated to calculate the range.

Before the giant catapults of the Far Eastern Army were equipped to the troops, they summed up and calculated the various shooting tables by throwing different distances and weights again and again, so that the catapults could be used without shooting calculations during wartime , just use this shooting table as the basis, find the corresponding shooting elements, and make corresponding adjustments. Although it cannot be extremely accurate, the error range will not exceed ten steps, and it can save a lot of time on the battlefield. , Even as long as the team leader is familiar with the shooting elements, he can make quite precise adjustments within a few breaths.

Therefore, the generals, captains, captains, and even team leaders of the Far Eastern Army's engineering and supply battalion and the catapult team are all people with relatively high levels of education at the same level, and at least they can understand various shooting tables.

For this reason, Wang Junlin has even promoted Arabic numerals in the army, so that soldiers can efficiently and quickly memorize the shooting table, as well as the mathematical principles and calculation methods in it.

In fact, these generals have undergone professional training and some shooting calculation assessments, and there are corresponding subsidies in addition to military salaries.

So, even if the giant catapult machine of the Far East Army falls into the hands of Li Jiajun, who does not have a professional operator, does not have a shooting meter and does not know how to shoot and calculate, it will not be accurate for a while, even after a long period of time. The exploration of the period can be accurate, but it is also very limited.

After losing nearly half of the equipment, Li Jiajun finally reached the range that his trebuchet could throw, and then screamed strangely and couldn't wait to set up the trebuchet, and began to fight back.