Chapter 3 Ice Wall and Counterweight Trebuchet
That afternoon, the originally peaceful Montenegro Territory suddenly became noisy.
Villagers scattered in various villages in the river valley began to flock to Monterey Fort.
Bellam, the captain of the guard, trained the auxiliary soldiers who had just been recruited. Those who have reached the second level of cultivation or above are the targets of recruitment, and there are more than 400 people in total. They were all assigned standard leather armor and weapons, which were the legacy of old Gareth.
At that time, these recruited auxiliary soldiers will go to the front line of the city wall to resist the orcs together with the Black Mountain leader's private army, and fight hand-to-hand with the enemy.
The generous baron promised them that all soldiers who went to the front line of the castle to participate in the battle would be given one year's salary as bonuses according to their ranks.
Those who unfortunately died in battle or were seriously injured or disabled would receive pensions from him, and their children would be raised at his expense.
Old Pedro, who is proficient in general affairs, has also initially completed the organization and reorganization of nearly 10,000 people in Montenegro Town. Craftsmen, men, able-bodied women, young men, young children, the old and the weak were all divided into groups and formed into teams of a hundred, and military control was implemented.
Under Li Wei's instructions, one group of people went into the mountains to cut wood and collect materials, another group of people went to Mirror Lake to get ice and water, and another group of people built fortifications outside Monterey Fort.
Because Fort Monterey is backed by the Black Mountains and built on the mountain, sandwiched between two steep ridges, there are only hidden trails on its sides and rear for people to enter and exit, but it is not suitable for large army attacks. If you want to capture this fortress, you can only attack it openly from the front.
Li Wei planned to build fortifications directly in front of the castle to delay the orc attack. Due to the cold weather, the soil had frozen hard, so he ordered people to build a sheep and horse wall with the help of water and straw.
Spread a layer of straw, pour a layer of water, continue to spread straw after the water freezes, and so on. Such ice walls are stronger than ordinary rocks! The sheep and horse wall does not need to be too high. Four consecutive two-meter-high sheep and horse walls are enough to greatly delay the charge of the orcs.
In addition, at Beram's suggestion, Li Wei ordered his men to sharpen the wooden stakes, soak them in water and then freeze them hard, and set them up behind the sheep and horse wall, not to cause a lot of damage, but to further delay the enemy.
Inside Fort Monterey, the busy atmosphere here is no less than outside.
Except for a few teams of old, weak and young people carrying supplies, all the craftsmen in the territory gathered around Li Wei.
"I saw that except for two heavy crossbows, there are no other large weapons in the castle. Do any of you know how to make trebuchets?"
"Lord Baron, I once participated in the production of trebuchets in the old baron's army." A senior officer The old carpenter volunteered at this time and described to Li Wei the trebuchet he had made.
"But Lord Baron, this kind of trebuchet requires a lot of tendons from monsters and is very expensive. Not only is its power limited, but it is also very laborious to use. The old baron used it once and never used it again."
Levi pondered for a moment, and he He probably guessed that the trebuchet the opponent was referring to was a torque trebuchet, not the counterweighted trebuchet he wanted.
In this extraordinary world, the effective damage caused by weapons with too little power is very limited. In Levi's imagination, the counterweight trebuchet has the potential to kill fifth-level or even sixth-level strong men.
Moreover, the counterweight trebuchet is much easier to drive than the torque trebuchet. It only requires some untrained men or even strong women to drive it.
"This is how I think about it. Take a piece of wood that is fifteen meters long and strong enough to be thick enough as the main beam. Take a quarter of it as the fulcrum.
Assemble the weight on the short end, and place the throwing object on the long end. Use Manpower pulls up the counterweight end, and then uses the gravity of the counterweight end to drive the main beam and throw the projectile out."
Li Wei carefully explained his idea to the craftsmen. Since the principle of the counterweight trebuchet is not complicated, especially The craftsmen quickly had a production plan.
"Lord Baron, you are such a genius! No one in the kingdom has ever come up with such an exquisite design!"
Listening to the old craftsman's heartfelt praise, Li Wei, whose family knew his own affairs, couldn't help but blush.
Immediately, the baron, whose vanity was greatly satisfied, continued to plagiarize other people's shooting watches.
Even if you use several standard weight bombs, calculate the trajectory of different weights or projectiles in advance. In this way, soldiers can quickly change the projection area, greatly improving the hit rate of the trebuchet.
Mr. Levi almost lost himself in the flattery again.
In the evening, with the cooperation of a group of powerful extraordinary beings and more than a dozen craftsmen, a slightly crude counterweight trebuchet appeared at the head of Monterey Castle.
"Let's start." Surrounded by Pedro, Beram, and Harland, Levi issued the test order.
Thirty young men shouted slogans and pulled the tow rope. After the main beam was in place, one person quickly installed the bolt, and four people filled the trebuchet with an ice bomb weighing 150 kilograms. "Fire!" Following the commander's command, the ice bomb weighing 150 kilograms roared into the distance.
Three hundred meters away from the city wall, the ice bullet fell into the circle that Li Wei had sent someone to draw in advance.
The whole place was suffocated.
Then cheers burst into the sky!
They saw the hope of victory!
Levi was also infected by the cheers of the crowd, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.
"Perhaps I won't be able to use the treasure order given to me by the system in this war." Li Wei thought to himself.
"It seems that Lord Baron made a good decision in choosing to become a wizard. His brain is much better than others." Harland, who has always been generous with his time, muttered.
Pedro glared hard at Harland, who shrank like a mouse seeing a cat.
Pedro immediately said with emotion: "Baron, if the old baron is still here, I will definitely be happy for you!"
"The trebuchet designed by Lord Baron has no precedent in the history of the kingdom, but I guess if it was used just now, If that ice bullet hits, a fifth-level Silver Moon warrior will also be seriously injured, and a fourth-level meteor star like me may not be able to withstand it at once." Guard Captain Beram assessed.
At this time, a scout suddenly came to report that about five thousand refugees would arrive at Fort Monterey tonight.
"Three of you, I want to take in these refugees. I wonder what you mean?"
Levi was not simply having a heart attack at this time. He actually wanted to use these refugees to protect his subjects.
Li Wei was very worried that if too many people in his territory died and the incident failed, there would really be no place to cry.
"I think it's good. There is a shortage of labor everywhere now, and our defense force will never be too much. If we come with 5,000 people, we can always filter out some for use.
But I don't recommend accepting the useless old and weak. We in Montenegro don't have that. The obligation to protect the people in other places." Cavalry Captain Harland gave his opinion.
"Lord Baron, the maximum capacity of our Fort Monterey is fifteen thousand people. For another five thousand people, we can build some wooden houses to squeeze them in, but next spring, our food shortage will be even greater." The old housekeeper was a little worried. He said worriedly,
"I'm worried that the orcs will take advantage of us to accept the refugees and attack. Whether they take the opportunity to attack the city gate or drive the refugees away as human shields, this will be very detrimental to us." "
Have you seen any traces of the orcs? ?" Li Wei asked the scout who came to report the news.
"Reporting to my lord, my brothers have not found any trace of the orcs yet."
"What do you think of this? We only accept healthy refugees who are over twelve years old and under forty-five years old.
Males between 16 and 35 years old or second-level practitioners or above, if they are willing to go up the city wall to participate in the defense of the city, they can be regarded as Depending on your strength, we will bring additional people into Monterey Castle.
In addition, starting tomorrow afternoon, we will seal the main entrance of the castle and use gondolas to enter and exit the castle.
Uncle Harland, I need you to work hard. I would like to ask you to patrol the perimeter in person. , to prevent the orcs from sneaking attacks."
The three of them looked at each other and finally agreed with Li Wei's decision.
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On the evening of the third day, after more than 10,000 people worked hard for two days and two nights without sleep, the Monterey Fort defense system envisioned by Levi was finally constructed.
Four two-meter-high and 150-meter-long ice walls stretch outside Fort Monterey, shining brightly in the sunlight.
Thirteen counterweighted trebuchets that have been debugged and calibrated stand at the top of the city. They will become the nightmare of the orcs.
(End of chapter)