At the end of the Tang Dynasty, it was a feudal town, but in Western Europe

This castle is not far away. It is located in the east of Schmalkalden, north of Fort Olamingde, basically in the south of Dessau, and the scale of the castle, the number and quality of soldiers here also convinced Feng Sen of this What the Jews said.

Which knight can afford such a tall tower and nearly a hundred strong soldiers?

"Even if the butler said that Hadrad had an illegitimate child, does he know exactly who it is in such a private matter?" Feng Sen sat on a big millstone in the village, "And he is drunk, you guys How do you know what he said is true?"

The Jew bent down and replied: "In fact, ten years ago, when the Harendan knights built this castle, they hired a Jewish stonemason (the medieval stonemason was also a construction engineer).

But he was a knight from a commoner background, where did he get the money to build such a luxurious castle?So after we got the news, we kept inquiring about the situation until we got the exact news from the butler. "

"In other words, you are not sure whether there is Hadrad's wealth here?"

"No, we're sure there are, but we don't know how much. Even if he has nothing to do with Hadrad, these soldiers and the money in the warehouse must not be a small amount of money." The Jew bowed and said to Feng Sen.

Feng Sen narrowed his eyes, lost in thought.

Before, the dental soldiers had interrogated several local people, as well as people who were related to the knights or guards in the castle. Naturally, people at this time did not have much sense of secrecy, and what they said showed that the Harendan knight was indeed rich beyond the normal knight.

"Where's the Jewish mason? Where's the others? Is he here?"

The Jew smiled wryly: "No, when the knight asked for payment at the end of the project, he thought the Jewish stonemason violated the law and became a stonemason as a Jew, killed him, and deprived his family property.

His mother and wife also died tragically because of this, only one son survived and kept his father's castle design, which is why we inquired about him in many ways. "

Feng Sen was taken aback for a moment, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only sigh softly. Compared with the Jewish plutocrats in later generations, ordinary Jews in this era are indeed an oppressed group.

If there is no such a high-pressure environment, I am afraid that it will be difficult for the unique Jewish nation to appear in the world in later generations. Throughout history, it is not that the Jews have maintained terrible unity and nationality everywhere, but the Jews who have not maintained unity and nationality, or Assimilated, or eliminated.

"I understand." Feng Sen nodded, "You can go, I will avenge you."

"Wait." The Jew didn't leave as obediently as before, but asked with a puzzled expression, "You, don't you have anything else to say?"

"I've already asked all the questions I should ask, what else do I need to say?"

"With all due respect, Your Excellency, you must know that although the Jewish stonemason died tragically, he was indeed a conscientious craftsman. The castle he designed with all his heart and soul may take you two weeks or even a month to attack the city." The Jew who led the way said, "Maybe, when you capture the castle, the hyenas under His Highness the King will come to snatch it."

Feng Sen sat on the millstone with no expression on his face: "Then what do you mean?"

"No matter how much Hadrad's property you get, I only need one-tenth, and you can get the castle's structural diagram."

"Hahahaha." Feng Sen suddenly burst out laughing, making the Jew a little puzzled.

Feng Sen took a bow from the waist of the guard beside him, and he put the bow in front of the Jewish guide: "Can this one attack the city?"

"Yes, but it can't be broken."

Feng Sen turned around, walked up to the stone millstone, and patted the stone millstone: "Can this be used to attack the city?"

"Yes, but miss."

Feng Sen slapped the bow and arrow heavily on the stone millstone, with a kind smile on his face: "With this and this, can we attack the city?"

The Jewish guide opened his mouth wide, but Feng Sen laughed. He walked up and patted the Jewish guide on the shoulder: "My friend, times have changed."

Chapter 326 Human Catapult and Counterweight Catapult

Early the next morning, the government soldiers who had won the Battle of Blankenburg and some of the Eight Banners rushed to Harendam Castle to support Feng Sen.

The morning dew fell from the jade-green grass blades. On a green plain, ten carts were slowly moving forward under the push of the Eight Banners.

The outside of these large carts is covered with thick cowhide, and the middle is made of solid fir and pine wood. Except for some of the most important parts, most of the materials are taken from the people (the fortress and the villagers’ houses have been demolished. ), of course, the most important skeleton part was removed directly from the carriage.

The chariot moved forward slowly, and soon pushed to the vicinity of the top of the hill. This wooden castle consists of three parts, a mound up to one foot high, a four-meter-high civil mixed bottom wall and a tower on the second floor. Thin female wall.

Behind each chariot, there are a dozen or so Eight Banners cooperating with seven or eight local villagers. The total number is about [-]. Compared with the Eight Banners soldiers who also carried shields, the thinly dressed villagers only brought some wooden shovels and pickaxes.

The chariots soon came under the top of the hill, and the soldiers on Harendan Castle also found their tracks. In the early morning horns, hundreds of soldiers ran out of the tower, looking nervously at the chariots in front of them.

"Go away, you heathens!"

"Heretics! Believers of the stars and the moon! Cowards! Slugs!"

"You lowly swineherd, get out of here!"

One after another, the sound of scolding and ridicule was endless.

A tall soldier had a whim and suddenly stood at the gap in the parapet of the castle. He took off his pants, revealing his hairy thighs: "You are only worthy of drinking my urine! Bastards!"

As he said that, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he started a shower attack on the attacking car.

There was a burst of laughter on the city wall in an instant, and the soldier got even worse. He turned around and pointed Bai Huahua's butt to the outside: "Go eat farts! If I didn't have a bad appetite this morning and I didn't eat much, you should go eat now... ah-"

The soldier's provocative sentence stopped suddenly in the middle, and turned into a piercing scream. He threw himself forward suddenly, his feet trembling uncontrollably.

"What's the matter?" The soldiers on both sides hurried over and supported him. Only then did they discover the thing.

It was a long arrow as thick as a little finger, and it was still trembling, and the place where it took root was not elsewhere, but a dark and deep place in the human body.

Seeing the interrupted provocation on the city wall, Feng Sen slowly withdrew the big bow in his hand, which was close to the height of a person, and the people around him cast reverent and fearful gazes.

"Jie Shuai's shooting skills are comparable to Yang Youji." Sun Jingxiao on the side praised him appropriately, although it was flattery, but it was not without some sincerity.

Feng Sen threw the big bow to the attendant at the side, and quickly got on his horse: "This yew big bow is good, but after all, it is labor-intensive. I am afraid that few people can handle it freely. It is not bad to equip a group of elite archers. I really want to promote it." , I'm afraid it's not realistic."

While chatting and laughing, Feng Sen swung the horizontal knife and helped Sun Jingxiao fly an arrow that floated down from the tower. Although the archers in Harendan Castle had a long range, their bow strength was limited after all, so they flew so far. Far, speed and accuracy have decreased.

"Let's go!"

Next, the cavalry led by Feng Sen continued to ride around the hilltop castle, shooting bows and arrows to harass them from time to time. When the castle guards tried to counterattack, the cavalry had already flew away.

That is to say, this group of tooth soldiers and fire chiefs had improved their physique together with Feng Sen, otherwise it would be very difficult to play this hand with the bow strength of riding a bow.

On this side, Feng Sen was constantly harassing, while on the other side, Baqi and the villagers behind the car started soil work. They chose the gentlest slope and began to build a gentler slope with soil and trees.

It has to be said that after many times of training and engineering work, the Eight Banners are very proficient in building bridges and paving roads. A slope with a width of one foot is gradually rising beside the original castle mound at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It's just that this kind of thing is slow after all. The soil work took a whole day, but it hasn't been completed yet, so it can only temporarily stop.

The next day, the sky was overcast, and occasionally there would be a ray or two of sunlight shining from the sky.

After Feng Sen finished washing, he left his tent, but at a glance he saw seven or eight heads hanging on the flagpoles outside the camp.

"Is this the person who went out of the city last night to try to destroy the slope?" Feng Sen asked Sun Jingxiao beside him with a smile.

And Sun Jingxiao also replied with a smile: "Exactly, they only sent a dozen people, like destroying a slope, and were killed by our cavalry on duty, only two or three people fled back."

"That's right, pass on the order to continue building the slope." Feng Sen told Sun Jingxiao who was at the side: "I'll go to the trebuchet to have a look."

Ignoring the yelling and cursing again from Harendan Castle, Feng Sen stepped onto the flying mane, and accompanied by several attendants, he arrived at the rear of the camp, which was the core of the entire siege plan.

In a cleared space, the merchants drove their carriages and stopped at a fixed position on the edge of the clearing. Beside them, the tooth soldiers shouted, telling the merchants to move the parts of the catapult and the jars of pine tar to the hayloft.

A group of captured Harendan castle villagers, driven by the Eight Banners and the government soldiers, laboriously cut down trees, moved stones, and piled them up in a fixed position. The most eye-catching thing in this open space is the three catapults.

Two are traditional human-powered catapults passed down from craftsmen in the Central Plains. The entire catapult consists of a triangular gun mount and five gun tips up to three feet long. Between the gun tip and the gun mount is a A rotatable shaft used as a fulcrum for leverage.

At one end of the gun tip are more than 20 leather ropes, and the other end is a leather nest for placing stones.

When it was time to fire the cannon, two people each held a leather rope, asked one person to adjust the direction of the cannon tip, and then put in the stone, and issued an instruction, all the people on the other side pulled the leather rope violently, and under the action of leverage, the stone could fly out and hit the city wall.

On the other side is the counterweight trebuchet developed by Feng Sen. It is not much different from the human trebuchet, except that the drag cable is replaced by a large stone grinding disc, and a wedge-like catapult is added at the other end of the gun tip. Withholding device.

In fact, the difference between a human-powered trebuchet and a counterweight trebuchet is actually a bit similar to a bow and a crossbow. The former launches directly and the latter stores energy.

However, the counterweight trebuchet at the back seems simple, but it is not that simple. Many times, Feng Sen has to use the off-map workshop that is on the verge of expiration to produce some parts.

At current levels of productivity, counterweight trebuchets are very expensive and have a high failure rate.

After spending so much effort, Feng Sen naturally wanted to test how effective it was, and today's battle was just for a try.

"Has the inspection been completed?" Feng Sen said to the craftsman leaders present.

The craftsman quickly replied: "The two five-point guns are ready for use. As for the counterweight gun, a small part was broken during the test just now. We are reassembling it and it will be completed around noon."

"Okay." Feng Sen didn't talk nonsense, and ordered two teams of soldiers and banners casually, "You push these two five-point cannons to the front line to assist in the siege!"

Chapter 327 Fire Attack and Stone Throwing

The bloody wind blew up the curtains of the room, mixing with the bloody smell of the barbecue steak in front of Harendan. If there is no reminder, if someone sees it, they will think it is the bright red wine liquid in the copper cup. A whole glass of blood.

Facing the delicious veal steak, Harendan was indifferent. He couldn't figure out why the famous Duke of Saxony would come to him. Could it be that his father's affairs had been exposed?Someone revealed it?

No, it's impossible. Those who know about this matter are either dead, or they all follow their father's side. Who will tell it?How on earth did he know?

Thinking of this, Harendan put down the knife and silver chopsticks in his hand, and walked to the window. It was already noon, and the soldiers on the city wall were dozing off, or hiding behind the parapet to drink.

From this morning to now, the siege slope on Feng Sen's side has basically been built. It was originally built on the top of the hill to make it difficult for the enemy to attack from above. The disadvantage is much smaller.

After standing by the window for a long time, Harendan returned to his original seat: "Old Lida, have you sent a messenger from the city to Fort Olaminder?"

Although his name was Old Lida, the middle-aged butler bowed and replied, "It was only sent out last night. I'm afraid the messenger hasn't arrived at Fort Olaminder in such a short period of time."

"What about the messenger who negotiated with the Duke of Saxony?"

"I was sent back with a gift."

Harendan was silent for a few seconds, then gulped down a large glass of wine, and Old Lida didn't even have time to stop him.

"Man up." Harendan said through gritted teeth, "Get ready, if things don't go right, we'll escape."

Yes, Harendan was extremely desperate for the future. As Hadrad's illegitimate son, he was originally prepared to be a backup after Hadrad's rebellion failed, but this backup must be established without being discovered.

Once discovered, no matter how strong the castle is, it will not be able to withstand the siege of the army. At first, he only hoped that only the Duke of Saxony would know the news, and the number of people attacking the city was only a few hundred people.

In this case, he can take out part of his gold and silver property in exchange for the Duke of Saxony's retreat. After all, if Charlie finds this place, he may not get as much as what Harendan gave.

However, it can be seen from the messenger's return that it was definitely Charlie who sent the Duke of Saxony to attack the castle. Otherwise, how could the Duke of Saxony refuse? These hundreds of people are just the vanguard.

Thinking of this, Harendan, regardless of the housekeeper's dissuasion, picked up the wine bottle again, took two sips, and said with a flushed face: "As long as I am still alive, there is still hope of revitalizing the family, you go and pack some belongings, They will definitely not be able to capture this castle today, we must escape earlier before the arrival of the army."

"Understood, I will arrange it now."

"Okay, I'll take a nap, don't wake me up before the Saxon army officially attacks the city!"

After giving instructions to the housekeeper, Harendan walked to the soft four-poster bed. He gently stroked the blanket on the bed. At least in the next ten years, he would not be able to sleep on such a good bed again.

Under the urging of alcohol, Harendan fell headlong on the bed, the sunlight that was hanging high above his head gradually shifted, shone into the room from the window, and fell on Harendan's face.

In a daze, Harendan suddenly heard the sound of thunder, and the next second he felt the bed shaking, and a burst of dust fell between his mouth and nose.

"Cough cough cough-"

Harendan was forced to open his eyes and looked at the ceiling in a daze. Was it an earthquake or was it raining?

"My lord, cough cough, my lord!" The door was knocked open by Old Lida, his forehead was swollen, and a stream of blood fell down his cheeks onto his collar and the ground, but he didn't feel it at all, "My lord, go and have a look quickly, those Saxons have invited a terrible one-armed giant!"

"What?" Harendan immediately jumped up from the bed, before he even had time to put on his coat, he rushed to the window in two or three steps.

"My God, my Father."

On the previous dirt slope, several chariots were slowly moving forward, and the archers in the tower basically couldn't shoot the soldiers behind the chariots, but at this moment, there were not many archers who could shoot arrows normally.

Because in the rear of the Saxon army, two tall one-armed giants are standing behind everyone. Whenever a soldier tries to throw a javelin or shoot an arrow, the two one-armed giants will make a loud roar, and then two heads will be shot. Large and small stones will fall from the sky, smashing the second-story parapet and city gates into sawdust.

"Tell all the servants in the castle and the peasants who have taken refuge to go up to the wall, and I will go and put on my armor, and I will be there soon."

When Harendan reached the city wall, a group of peasants and servants holding sticks were hiding behind the parapet trembling.

However, after just such a journey from the main castle to the city wall, the panic in Harendan's heart had gradually calmed down, and he began to shout loudly.

"That's not a one-armed giant, but an ancient Roman siege machine."

"Calm down, it's not a giant, otherwise why didn't they attack the city directly, but smashed the wall with stones from behind?"

"My soldiers, calm down!"

Lord Knight is rich, so naturally he would not treat his soldiers and civilians harshly on weekdays, so relatively speaking, his prestige is not low. Wherever Harendan went, the people who were originally panicked gradually calmed down.

"Don't worry, my soldiers." Harendan pointed to the catapult in the distance, "Their stones can only break our parapet and city gate, because it has only one layer and is still hollow.

But it is impossible to use this kind of rock to break the lower wall, because the lower city wall is filled with soil between the two layers of wood, which they cannot break.

My soldiers and people, our reinforcements are coming soon, I have notified Olamunde and the nearby castles, they will help us soon, I will always stand with you! "

In any case, the soldiers and civilians could only believe Harendan's words, so under the loud shouts of several guard captains, the soldiers and civilians also cheered.

"They're attacking the city!" Just then, an archer on the tower shouted to the soldiers below, interrupting the scene of glory and blood.

"Keep your positions, God bless you!" Harendan shouted to the soldiers with emotion.

Below the city wall, the chariots pushed by the flagmen had reached the bottom of the city wall, while the soldiers took out javelins, bows and arrows and stones, and kept throwing them down.

But these bannermen did not attack the city. They took out their shields and moved out of the way. A group of captured villagers came out from the back of the chariot with their whole body swaying and weeping. Under the command of the bannermen, they began to dig holes in the corner of the castle.

"What is this doing?" Standing on the tower, Harendan frowned and said, "Could it be that they want to knock down the city wall by hollowing out the bottom of the city wall? But what are these people doing?"