Chapter 50 Liu Bei attacked the city and opened the "plug-in" city wall!

At the same time, on the other side, Liu Bei and others were discussing the siege.

"The tallest city in our Han Dynasty is Chang'an, which is four zhang high. But the wall built by thief Ji is five zhang high. Even with the largest ladder, it is impossible to reach the top of the wall directly!" said Liu Bei.

The ladder is a magical weapon used to attack cities on the battlefield of cold weapons.

It was first created by Lu Ban.

"Mozi Gongshu" records: Gongshu Ban built a cloud ladder for Chu, and when it was completed, he was going to use it to attack Song!

This so-called "ladder" was used on the battlefield for more than two thousand years. It was not until guns and cannons became the mainstream of warfare and city walls were no longer the biggest obstacle that it was withdrawn from the stage of history!
The lower part of the ladder is a four-wheeled vehicle carrying two folding bamboo ladders.

Once close to the city, the upper bamboo ladder can be placed on the city wall and added to the lower bamboo ladder to form a staircase, turning the originally insurmountable city wall into a slope that can be charged onto, allowing cavalry to charge up the city wall.

The design is so ingenious that its principles are still used today.

For example, a crane.

Part of the protection of the moat is to deal with ladders, and there are corresponding "ship-mounted ladders" for ladders, which I will not go into details here.

But speaking of Liu Bei, he lamented that the ladder was too short to reach Ji Hao's city wall.

But Jia Xu shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. It's only a difference of ten feet. In fact, it's only a few feet. The highest ladder is four feet and six feet high. We can add three more steps, one foot each, and then we can reach the city!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei was overjoyed and immediately ordered his men to add three steps to the ten "ladders" he had brought.

After preparing the troops, they began to attack the city the next day.

"on!"

The commander's flag was waved, and a group of soldiers pushed the ladder chariot forward and quickly climbed onto the city wall.

The Death Squadron took the lead in charging, climbing the ladders and heading straight for the city wall.

The operation was so smooth that Ji Hao couldn't help but sigh: "As expected of the remaining elite troops of the Xiliang Army, they have thoroughly mastered the cold weapon battlefield!"

After that, he paused for a moment and then said, "If we don't cheat, it will be hard to deal with them!"

Guo Jia understood this.

He laughed and said, "You, the descendants of Yan and Huang, have the 'Hanging Technique' specifically designed to deal with this kind of powerful enemy!"

Since he often talks about "cheating", all his subordinates have asked him the reason.

In response to this, Ji Hao told them nonsense in a serious tone: "The so-called 'open cheating' is the most profound and obscure part of the dragon-slaying technique, called 'the art of cheating'. The essence is to use unexpected methods to achieve a crushing advantage over the enemy, and how to create something that the enemy can't imagine is the cornerstone of the 'art of cheating'!"

His ridiculous explanation was regarded as the truth by his subordinates.

Many people followed him to learn the "cheating technique" and wanted to cheat.

I really learned a lot.

For example, now: when ladders are connected to the city walls, defending the city becomes a positional war. In this era, only generals and soldiers can be used to resist, there is no other way.

The ladder could not be pushed open, and there was cowhide covering it to prevent arrow attacks, and it was even fire-proofed.

I can't even burn it.

However, when the ten ladders were in place, the Datong army defending the city did not go up to resist the soldiers who had already started charging below, but calmly activated the pulleys, levers, and brackets one by one!
Ten "cement slabs" of 50 feet wide, 100 feet long, and 10 feet thick were hoisted with iron cables and flipped upside down, landing on the ten ladders.

The next moment, there were successive “crackling” sounds, and the wooden ladder was directly flattened. The one that was not flattened also turned over on the spot, from the front to the back, and could no longer be used.

"How is this possible? How did they carry such huge stones into the city?" Liu Bei exclaimed.

Guan Yu's phoenix eyes narrowed and he said, "Even if it can be carried up, it is extremely unreasonable to push it down so quickly. Even with Ji Chengtian's 'Power of the Human Emperor', it is impossible to do it!"

It is five zhang wide and ten zhang long, comparable to a city wall.

Although it is only ten feet thick, it is still an unimaginable boulder that cannot be moved by human power!

"It may not be a huge stone, but it is very likely made of lime." Jia Xu said, "According to my investigation, they have a special kind of lime that solidifies quickly and is cheap. You only need to pour water on it and stir it evenly to make it harder than stone."

At this point, he frowned and asked in confusion: "But as General Guan said, how did they push it down?"

Everyone was puzzled by this.

How did Ji Hao do it?

That huge block of cement could not be lifted by human power, but he did not use any manpower at all: he was building a steel plant when he discovered the iron ore three years ago.

In three years, the steel supports, levers, cables and pulleys were all built.

It was poured on the city wall and supported by brackets.

In wartime, use a pulley and a crowbar to lift one side and push it down directly, and a ladder can be destroyed directly - this is a "hanging technique" specially designed by Ji Hao for the battlefields of this era.

A true cheat for the city wall.

Very well executed by Zhao Yun!
"They only have ten ladders, all of which have been destroyed. There is no possibility of attacking the city in a short time!" Ji Hao looked down and said, "The only way is to destroy the city wall itself, or break open the city gate in a rough way."

Hearing this, Guo Jia and the others all laughed, and their smiles were very bright.

The craftsmen of this era may not have advanced thinking, but their wisdom is unquestionable. After Ji Hao invented cement, various improvements over the past three years have pushed its strength to a terrifying level.

The construction of the city walls is based on "bridge standards" and is thick enough.

Forget about Liu Bei, even if Li Yunlong brings his Italian cannon, it will take him a while to blast it open!

However, Liu Bei did not know this. After a group of people discussed for a long time, they finally came to a conclusion: since the city wall was built so high, it must be weak in strength and could not be too thick.

There are still weaknesses.

"Without the ladders, our army will no longer have the possibility of climbing the city wall, and they have special fortifications to deal with ladders. Even if we get other ladders, it will be useless." Liu Bei said.

These words made Lu Bu and Yuan Shu nod their heads.

Climbing up the city wall was completely impossible, so they no longer considered it.

"Given Ji Chengtian's character, it would be extremely difficult for us to lure him out and fight him." Liu Bei continued, "The only way now is to destroy the city wall directly before we can attack!"

This is also one of the commonly used siege methods on the cold weapon battlefield.

As for what to use to destroy the city wall?
There really is something!
"Get on the gun carriage!"

At Liu Bei's command, ten "cannon carts" taller than ladders were pushed out by the soldiers, stopped three hundred meters in front of Ji Hao's city, and began to load "cannon shells"!
(End of this chapter)