章 24: Chapter 23 Catapult

The following month had a sense of calm stillness.

The rain continued to drizzle, with few clear days. Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was mid-July, the height of summer when all things flourished.

Xilotepec City still had not surrendered. Their food supplies could last for at least another ten months. Outside the Mexica camp, a constant stream of food was transported from the lakeside. Samurai stayed in their tents, practicing martial arts with each other and teaching the new soldiers combat skills.

Xiulote and the carpenters were continuously struggling to cut through the tough sandalwood. They were making the catapult's frame and polishing the long boom. Of course, the most difficult part to produce was the rotating boom axis. At the junction of the boom axis and the frame, the craftsmen spent a long time dealing with it. Bertade and some following samurai helped as assistants.

Then, different parts were finally assembled, and the military carpenters reinforced the frame. Next came the first test firing. The rope connecting the boom and the boom axis quickly broke apart, and the boom fell from four meters high, deeply embedding into the soil, startling everyone with a cold sweat.

Xiulote had no choice but to seek out Aweit. Aweit provided the adhesive used in pyramid construction for Xiulote's grand invention and also summoned a few experienced craftsmen from the Mexica City-State in the East.

The senior craftsmen devotedly offered their wisdom to the Hunter Priest. After several days of study, they improved the overall connection of the catapult using tenon-and-mortise techniques. Finally, after a month of effort, a real catapult was completed.

The afternoon sun was warm and comfortable, marking a rare clear day.

Aweit stood on the edge of the parade ground, watching the four- to five-meter high catapult not far away, where craftsmen and laborers were busy below. He smiled and said, "Rushing me over here in such haste, so, can your grand toy be played with now?"

Xiulote, with a face full of excitement, replied, "Aweit, this will be a revolutionary weapon, forever changing the way we attack city-states. I shall call it the Human-Powered Catapult Type One, no, without wheels, it should be the Human-Powered Catapult Machine Type One."

Then, Xiulote watched the craftsmen complete the loading and shouted loudly, "Fire!"

At the command, over twenty laborers strenuously pulled the ropes connected to the short axis of the boom, and then the boom and boom axis rotated. As the boom's long axis approached its highest point of rotation, about ten meters above the ground, a stone weighing more than ten pounds suddenly flew from the top of the long axis in a parabola, landing far away at the end of the parade ground and raising a cloud of dust on impact.

Aweit's mouth dropped open in awe as he watched the scene unfold, astonishment freezing on his face. The head-sized stone was thrown over two hundred steps, its massive kinetic energy capable of instantaneously killing any warrior in its landing spot, regardless of their martial arts skills or armor.

Xiulote "admired" Aweit's expression. It was the first time he had seen Aweit lose composure to such sheer astonishment. He was thrilled, feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment. This was the first product he had completed that surpassed the era, a first surpassing of history too.

At the same time, he had an epiphany: for the geniuses of this era, he did not possess formidable martial force, nor extraordinary intelligence, and he was still learning how to grasp human hearts and the times. What he truly could rely on were his emphasis on science and technology, his predictions about future development directions, and his memories of historical trends.

"Well," he chuckled self-mockingly, "a priest who's part-time a scientist, craftsman, and prophet."

Aweit's shock lasted for a full six seconds, which was already the longest time he had ever lost control of his facial expressions.

Immediately afterward, he walked over to the catapult with a serious face, meticulously examining its mechanical structure to confirm the weapon could be fired repeatedly. Then he walked to the firing end, measuring the firing distance.

"Fourteen pounds, two hundred twenty steps," Xiulote heard Aweit calculating studiously.

Then Aweit called over a skilled hunter to measure the effective killing range of a sling on a five-meter-high platform. "The sling's range from atop the wall near a hundred twenty ste

ps, barely inflicts any damage on leather armor, hit rate extremely low."

It was then that Aweit, with excitement now on his face, said to Xiulote, "Test out, at a distance of one hundred twenty steps, how heavy a stone the machine can fire."

The two then began testing different weights of stones, eventually finding that the firing weight at one hundred twenty steps was about forty pounds, roughly equivalent to nine liters, the size of three human heads.

Subsequently, the two tested the destructive power of throwing stones from this distance, the potential energy from nearly ten meters combined with the kinetic energy of the stone's initial speed. The force was powerful enough to leave clear marks on earthen and stone walls, but it was incapable of causing structural damage to walls ten paceswide.

In other words, to demolish the walls completely, the manpower-driven stone thrower model one was still inadequate.

However, for the wooden structures on and inside the walls, this force was devastating.

After obtaining detailed weapon data, Aweit hurriedly left.

Soon after, Supreme Commander Totec was forcibly brought over by Aweit. This tall, stern Mexica ace warrior gazed unchangingly at the "giant toy" being loaded with a forty-kilogram stone bullet, then, following a tremendous roar, his stoic face instantly turned to one of dumbfounded shock, lasting for more than ten seconds.

"Heavenly Divine bless." Totec watched the stone's landing point, which had sunk deep enough to fit a palm. "Is this a weapon of the gods? Did the giants from the legendary first era use such weapons to kill the sun?"

Xiulote watched Totec, who was almost worshiping next to the trebuchet, with a helpless expression. He estimated that the trebuchet's power was akin to the Thunderbolt Chariots used in the Battle of Guandu, far from the large-caliber short-barreled cannons used by the Spanish during their siege of the Moors in this era.

"It's all because they lack knowledge," Xiulote thought. Hence, decades later, the Aztec warriors would similarly mistake the Spanish colonizers' cannons and matchlock guns for divine punishment, plunging them into a panicked delusion.

In fact, these weapons inflicted far less direct damage on people than brutal close combat, but their impact on morale and perception was inversely significant. "Thankfully, now they have me!"

No matter what, this was Central America's first large-scale siege weapon, possessing epoch-making power.

Totec immediately mobilized village warriors and craftsmen, then compulsorily conscripted excellent carpenters from nearby city-states. Under the strict supervision of the Eagle Warrior squad, they started massively producing the manpower-driven stone throwers.

The nearby teak trees soon faced a catastrophic fate. To increase the efficiency of cutting, Totec also conscripted all the bronze axes from the Imperial Guards. Following that, the clinking and clanging of construction echoed throughout the camp.

Xiulote's giant toy quickly became famous throughout the army. Officers from various levels came to watch the trebuchet launch, leaving behind various shocked expressions. Even King Tizoc visited once, and like Aweit, was struck with amazement for six seconds, leading Xiulote to remark, "Truly worthy of being brothers."

Half a month later, outside the eastern gate of Xilotepec City, at a distance of one or two hundred paces from the wall, more than fifty trebuchets were lined up. At Xiulote's command, the drums sounded, and one thousand strong men forcefully pulled the ropes on their backs, the wooden arms of the trebuchets surged upward, sending more than fifty huge stones soaring through the air. They flew towards the city, leaving the defending army's eyes widened in terror, and landed with thunderous crashes, shaking the ground, destroying buildings, and kicking up dust.

"Stone-throwing Commander" Xiulote stood on the earthen platform two hundred paces away, observing the results of the bombardment. He had requested this position from Tizoc, arguing that it would enable him to maximize the effect of the trebuchets. In reality, he just wanted to closely assess the power of his creation and indulge in a little pride.

"The launch angle is 60 degrees to the front. Yes, that can only guarantee the stones fly within a 60-degree arc directly ahead. That's acceptable, acceptable," Xiulote wiped his forehead where no sweat existed. "Perhaps rounding the stones would be better, but that would wear down the tools too much. Never mind, precision isn't what we're aiming for anyway."

Xiulote then turned his attention to the casualties: "Many buildings destroyed, about three or four hits on the wall? Wall hit rate 5%, estimated four or five enemy casualties. I guess as the shooting continues, the enemy will quickly adapt, and casualties will be negligible."

"As expected, small trebuchets mainly impact morale and suppress long-range weapons," Xiulote thought. "Technical advancements must continue."

The merciless bombardment continued, the giant stones landing with thunderous roars, city-state warriors on the walls were pale, their robust bodies trembling with fear. Many militia crawled on the ground, praying toward the roaring "beast" at the forefront, and even their own warriors and militia were no exception.

For the "beast's" inventor and commander, Xiulote, the warriors and militia developed an odd, god-like emotional respect. This emotion would gradually fade, but the seeds of respect had been planted, adding recognition and obedience to their hearts.

The continuous bombardment lasted for three days. During this period, nobility and priests from the Otomi kept coming up to the city walls, their faces filled with terror as they hastily retreated.

Three days later, the gates of Xilotepec City opened again, and a group of envoys hurried out. This time, the envoys brought boxes of gifts and tributes.

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