Xiong Tingbi also made an oversight. He did pour water on the city walls to freeze them for protection, but he overlooked the wooden stake formation. If that had also frozen over, the Jiannu's fire attack would have been ineffective.
Of course, this had little impact on Ningyuan's defense system, but for Xiong Tingbi, it was a wake-up call.
The Jiannu were not barbarians, and their repeated battles were not entirely based on brute force. Especially with the help of some traitors, Xiong Tingbi could be sure when he saw the trench bridge or trench car.
Trench bridges are something that are only recorded in ancient books, especially the folding type, which requires a turning pin and a windlass (a folding bridge vehicle). It is not something that ordinary people can make just by reading books.
There are two types of trench-filling carts recorded in the Song Dynasty's "Wujing Zongyao". Even if it is not copied according to the diagram, it is not difficult to lengthen the shield cart and add wheels to it to play the same role.
Lieutenant General Zhu Mei, who had graduated from martial arts school and returned to Ningyuan just over a month ago, was next to Xiong Tingbi, also watching the siege equipment getting closer and closer.
"Sir, this looks like a trench bridge," Zhu Mei said uncertainly. "It existed during the Song Dynasty, but it has disappeared without a trace in this dynasty."
Xiong Tingbi remained noncommittal and asked, "Isn't it a trench filler?"
Zhu Mei shook her head slightly and said, "There's a picture of a trench-filling vehicle in the 'Wu Jing Zong Yao', but it doesn't look like this."
Xiong Tingbi smiled appreciatively and first conveyed the general's order, ordering the archers to rush out of the city with rockets to meet the enemy. Then he said to Zhu Mei, "Have you read 'The Essentials of Armaments'? It's quite good."
Zhu Mei, nicknamed Haifeng, is not particularly well-known in history, but that's a relative term. Born in the former garrison of Guangning in Liaodong, he was a simple and honest man, as well as a shrewd and capable person.
Historically, he participated in the Battle of Ningyuan and the Battle of Ningjin, and was later promoted to the general of Shanhai, where he showed great bravery and ability.
Zhu Mei smiled somewhat sheepishly and said, "I have only heard a few words from the professor in the martial arts school, and I have also seen the pontoon bridge that is currently being developed. It is quite similar to this trench bridge, but it is more sophisticated and ingenious."
Oh, Xiong Tingbi was slightly surprised and stroked his beard and said, "The martial arts school is developing a pontoon bridge. Is it for the convenience of coastal landing?"
Military science expanded to include not only infantry, cavalry, and artillery, but also engineering and logistics, and even a weapons research institute. Boat bridges were used by the engineering department and were developed by skilled craftsmen.
Zhu Mei said: "Not only coastal landings, but also river swamps can be used."
Xiong Tingbi nodded, and without further questioning, he turned his gaze towards the outside of the city, pointed out, and said, "The Jiannu had the help of the Han people, so they could build the trench bridge. In the future battles with the Jiannu, we must not underestimate the enemy!"
Zhu Mei's face also became solemn. The bravery of the Jiannu, coupled with the scientific culture of the Han people, really cannot be underestimated in the future.
"Your Excellency, please submit a petition requesting that we remove more incendiary weapons." Zhu Mei glanced at the boxes behind the city wall and said, "We still don't have enough incendiary bombs."
Xiong Tingbi gave a wry smile and said, "It's not easy. The kerosene is collected from the northwest and transported thousands of miles. The quantity is small, and the cost is high."
The earliest record of the collection and use of petroleum was in the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Records of Counties and States" written by Fan Ye of the Southern Dynasty.
Yanshou County in Jiuquan Commandery at that time was now in the Yumen area of Gansu Province. "There was a mountain in the south of the county. A stone as big as a rock appeared in the spring water. When it burned, it was extremely bright and could not be eaten. The people in the county called it stone lacquer."
The "Bowuzhi" of the Jin Dynasty also pointed out that this kind of stone lacquer can be used as a lubricant to "grease the car" (lubricate the axle).
These records show that the ancient Chinese people not only had a further understanding of the properties of petroleum, but also began to collect and use it.
"Wujing Zongyao" also records how to use petroleum as raw material to make a very powerful offensive weapon - "fierce oil". The Military Equipment Bureau of the Northern Song Dynasty had a workshop specializing in processing "fierce oil".
But collection and mining are two different things. How much oil can be produced by relying on natural seepage from the ground?
So, when it comes to arson, after the Song Dynasty, the only things used were gunpowder and saltpeter, and incendiary oil was very rare.
The mixture of strong liquor used in the Battle of Guangning was still far inferior in Zhu Youxiao's opinion. The burning was not fierce or long-lasting enough, the effect was not tragic or stimulating enough, and the visual effect was not shocking enough!
Therefore, after the Battle of Guangning, he ordered the local officials of Yan'an Road in the northwest to purchase lacquer, stone liquid, tallow water, kerosene, and fierce fire oil, which are all the same thing - petroleum.
In addition, Zhu Youxiao also asked the Gunpowder and Weapons Bureau to make some incendiary bombs made from a mixture of whale oil and spirits. They were inferior to petroleum, but the effect was still acceptable.
Just as Xiong Tingbi said, oil is scarce and has to be transported thousands of miles, which is really expensive.
But Zhu Youxiao has already thought of a solution and is currently conducting research and experiments. The probability of success is very high, but it will still take some time.
Therefore, Ningyuan City did not have many explosive incendiary bombs stored, and they were not used easily. As for rocket fire canisters with poor combustion effects, they were still relatively sufficient.
After waiting for a while, the Jiannu trench bridge slowly approached the trench, and the artillery officer came to ask whether to open fire.
Following Xiong Tingbi's order, the old-fashioned artillery opened fire first. Amidst flashes of flames and rising white smoke, solid shells flew out from the city and hit the target.
Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, the shells streaked across a low trajectory at a speed visible to the naked eye, either bouncing forward after hitting the ground or directly hitting the trench bridge.
Because the trench bridge is wider and heavier than the shield cart, it requires more manpower to push and is more resistant to impact than the shield cart.
A shell weighing two or three pounds hitting the trench bridge would only make a hole in the folded and inclined bridge deck, or shatter and damage the trees that were spliced and nailed together, but would not cause any damage to the trench bridge as a whole.
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