Chapter 3423
Countermeasures Against Catapults
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By simply building them in advance, a large number of catapults could be constructed, and with enough manpower, they could naturally have an impact on the Han army.
Even if this influence doesn't manifest in lethality, it's enough.
Unfortunately, the number of craftsmen they could gather in a short period of time was ultimately limited, and they inevitably had a certain bias in the construction of catapults and the forging of equipment and armor.
Catapults, which were essentially used as disposable items, were certainly not as important as weapons and armor.
However, given the importance attached to this defensive operation and its unique nature, in addition to the existing land-based catapults, there are also ships in the Ganges River basin equipped with catapults, which will provide support and cover for the army troops on the Ganges River.
In the comparison between the Kushan and Han armies, perhaps only the navy in the Ganges River basin had an advantage over the Han navy.
However, the naval advantage in the Ganges River basin cannot determine the outcome of the battle.
Ultimately, the scope of influence determines the extent to which online trolls can interfere, which is not a good thing.
However, having this level of advantage is already a good thing; at least it's not as despairing as being at a complete disadvantage.
"The enemy is almost here, and the Han army is ready. Their orderly ranks are indeed imposing and quite intimidating, but such orderly ranks are not all bad!" Kailash patted the catapult beside him, his words carrying a hint of amusement.
The neat and orderly arrangement is indeed a good thing; the square shape is perfect for their catapult attacks.
Then, without interference from our own troops, there is no risk of friendly fire incidents, which is a good thing no matter how you look at it.
"Launch the attack!" Seeing the auxiliary troops ready to be loaded, Kailash waved his hand, signaling the catapult unit to launch an attack, thus beginning this defensive battle.
Along with the catapult attack, the Brahman army troops, which had been prepared in advance, also began to arrive at their designated positions and build corresponding defensive lines to deal with the approaching elite Han army troops.
"It seems that, just as we imagined, the Kushan army, having had ample time to prepare, has prepared a large amount of military equipment." Looking at the sound of air being torn apart and the falling rocks accompanying the sound, Guan Yu carefully estimated the quantity and said calmly.
"Should we take countermeasures in advance?" Huang Xu frowned slightly and asked directly.
As part of a large legion, and in certain circumstances, as a legion commander, one possesses a considerable degree of autonomy.
However, as the commander of the Shooting Sound Battalion, Huang Xu had very little autonomy. Due to the special nature of the battalion, every strike had to achieve a specific effect.
Therefore, the attacks of the Shooting Sound Battalion need to have a predetermined result.
"No need. This level of catapult attack doesn't require any prior countermeasures. Each legion can handle it on its own." Guan Yu glanced at Huang Xu, then gently shook his head, directly rejecting the idea and action of countering the catapults.
Given that the Kushans had so much time to prepare a corresponding defense system, especially considering they had a long-range strike force, how could they have only prepared such a small number of catapults?
The catapult can be manufactured by simply combining simple mechanical structures.
While the trajectory analysis of catapults is extremely simple, attempting to counter them, especially with elite legions using ultra-long-range fire, would be a clear waste. Moreover, judging from the enemy's catapult attack trajectories, it's obvious that these catapults are deployed over a wide area and are not afraid of counterattacks at all.
As for long-range precision strikes, Guan Yu knew from his past combat experience that precision strikes were also ineffective.
Currently available precision strike methods all have corresponding locking mechanisms.
Neither cloud-based locking nor will-based locking can target the catapult at this moment.
Because catapults are military equipment, it is very difficult to imbue them with will or talent, which means that the corresponding will cannot be locked onto.
If there is no will, how can will be locked?
As for cloud-locking, that's even more of a pipe dream.
Now that the army has joined forces, how can we analyze which clouds belong to the precise range of clouds produced by the catapult soldiers?
Unlike catapults that can be used to hurl indiscriminately, to launch a precise counterattack, the attack must be targeted at an individual. Only in this way can the target be accurately hit by the soldier operating the catapult.
The difference in range between the two is like heaven and earth.
Without wanting to expend a significant amount of soldiers' energy, it would be almost impossible to counter the catapults from afar.
However, the pure catapult attack did not have a significant impact on the Han Empire's army at this time.
Although it looked impressive and powerful, the trebuchet actually had very low lethality.
Each catapult takes several minutes to complete a reloading, and can only throw the corresponding catapult into the corresponding range. Whether it can hit the target is still a question.
Besides, even if they did hit, they would only cause damage to a few soldiers, and such damage would not necessarily be fatal to the Han army at that time.
Before soldiers were fully armed with armor, the terrifying impact and weight of a catapult slingshot hitting a soldier could displace his internal organs and kill him instantly.
Even more terrifying were the large catapults, which could smash people into pieces, a gruesome way of dying that could also intimidate those around them, thus severely impacting the morale of the troops hit by the catapults. However, all of these actions were predicated on inadequate armor protection.
The armor and protection prepared by the Han army included not only external metal armor but also internal inner armor.
While it cannot completely prevent blunt force trauma, it can effectively deflect the impact and reduce the damage from the impact.
Moreover, the Han soldiers present were all veterans with rich battlefield experience. Whether they were dodging flexibly or using force-dissipating techniques, they were able to greatly reduce the damage and casualties they suffered.
Even without such means, if directly hit by a stone, the inner and outer armor would not have turned them into mincemeat; at most, they would have suffered serious injuries.
Such damage is unlikely to affect the soldiers who witnessed it, and therefore unlikely to further impact the morale of the army or shake its will.
However, the impact still exists, it's just that the speed is extremely slow. (End of this chapter)