In the minds of common people, Ro was able to dominate the diterranean and establish a vast empire across three continents primarily due to its powerful heavy infantry and strict discipline. However, in actuality, the Romans had another advanced tool: various exquisite military machines.
The Empire’s commonly used machines were divided into heavy and light types. The heavy types included ballistae, trebuchets, battering rams, and mobile siege towers, while the light types included mobile light ballistae and repeating crossbows.
These were early standard equipnt for legions, but later on, due to financial constraints, their numbers gradually decreased.
Now, large ballistae are very rare.
The Empire’s legions mainly use mobile light ballistae, which can be pulled by carriages, but the deploynt speed is still very slow.
Aside from ballistae, the commonly used siege weapon is the onager-style catapult. This type of catapult is simple in structure and low in cost, but its accuracy is relatively low. Due to its imnse kinetic energy, it must be placed on turf and piles of rubble when fired. If deployed on top of city walls, it could even collapse the walls beneath.
The librarian organized people to construct this onager-style catapult, using a rear-mounted single power torsion spring. The structure is not particularly complex.
He even knows how to make repeating ballistae.
This weapon was originally invented by the ancient Greeks and later used by the Romans. Although it can fire arrows in rapid succession, creating a dense firepower, its power and range are inferior to ordinary ballistae, and so officers criticize it as a ’waste of ammunition,’ thus it has not been widely used, but it appears in gas like Total War.
Duncan’s army has been besieging London for nearly half a month.
During this ti, envoys from the Saxons have also co, trying to persuade him to withdraw troops with promises of allegiance and tribute, and to re-establish a peace treaty, but Duncan unhesitatingly rejected them.
Duncan had already given them a chance.
If the Saxons hadn’t torn up the treaty before, he might have allowed them to struggle on for a few more days, but when they tore up the treaty and invaded Southampton while he was on an overseas expedition to rescue the Empire, he would no longer give the enemy any slightest chance.
He was determined to destroy the Kingdom of Kent!
In front of the camp.
Duncan looked at the trebuchet in front of him, curiously examining it, then asked, "Is this the trebuchet used by the Imperial Legion?"
"What is its range?"
The maximum range of the onager-style catapult is about four hundred ters. This catapult can effortlessly launch stone projectiles weighing over thirty kilograms over city walls, with imnse power that can easily knock down stone walls and even destroy buildings inside the city.
However, it also has a drawback, which is the extrely slow firing rate, taking half a day to load a single round of ammunition.
"Let try it!"
Duncan impatiently gestured for others to step back, then personally controlled the onager-style catapult in front of him. Sure enough, on the overhead projection page, a targeting icon appeared, but instead of a crosshair, it was a large arc parabolic line.
"The accuracy doesn’t seem very good."
After finding the right angle, Duncan ordered others to fire. Soon, a stone projectile weighing about twenty kilograms was launched. The Saxon soldiers on the London city walls were already terrified at the sight of the catapult, and when it actually fired, so imdiately wanted to turn and run.
On the city wall.
A rather burly Saxon leader shouted at the others, "What are you afraid of!"
"Don’t hide!"
"The Imperial catapult’s accuracy is terrible! ... They can’t hit us! ..."
"I..."
Boom!
A stone projectile fell, and the Saxon warrior in front was blown to pieces on the spot, with an exploding finger even flying into the open mouth of a shocked Saxon spearman, making him vomit uncontrollably.
Too bloody.
Too terrifying.
A direct hit from the catapult’s stone projectile leaves no remains, completely shattering the person.
Even a small section of the London stone wall collapsed. The kinetic energy of the onager-style catapult was terrifying, and it was considered top-notch siege equipnt in this era. Ordinary people who were hit even slightly would be killed by the stone projectiles, including three-star soldiers.
"How did it diverge so far?"
Duncan slightly furrowed his brow, not caring at all about the barbarian leader who was smashed to smithereens, but instead frowned as he looked at the catapult in front of him, muttering to himself, "The aiming deviation is almost thirty or forty ters."
"Even with the corrections in the overhead view, there’s such a large deviation distance?"
This thing is much harder to use than ballistae.
Despite having aid at the parabolic line, the changes after firing were significant, and the shape of the stone projectiles, the angle of range, and other aspects all had an impact. It can be said that you can only determine a general direction, and everything else is left to chance.
But it doesn’t matter, if it doesn’t work once, just keep trying, if one isn’t enough, then build more.
Although there aren’t many craftsn on Great Britain, building a few catapults isn’t difficult, and Duncan prepared to relentlessly bombard the London city walls.
Not far away.
Kvito curiously watched Duncan as he commanded the catapult, softly asking, "Does the Governor even know how to operate a catapult?"
Clegane proudly nodded, "Of course."
"After all, he’s of Roman descent, he must know about catapults."
He’s already Duncan’s number one fanatic.
Next to him, Balton, the leader of the Britannian Imperial Legion, also chid in, "The Governor’s ancestors were from the British Legion of the Empire, of course he knows how to use catapults."
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