I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 209 Torque Catapult
Ponsburg is located not far from the Allegro River and near the Auvergne crater, where the most abundant trees are also beech.

Pons brought in a carpenter and his apprentice, along with ten serfs, to forge for Luc the weapon that would ultimately persuade him to agree to another war.
— Catapult!

"Sir, here is all the timber you need!"

George stepped on a sturdy beech tree, while pointing to the horsehair and bark displayed in a wooden frame next to him.

There are two beech trees, totaling eight feet in length, in addition to several ash trees.

"Take some men and saw a beech tree into two equal-length bases, and another beech tree into five equal-length pieces."

Luke pointed to the carpenter's apprentice and gave him instructions.

"And you, go and build a gear? What? What's a gear?"

Luke looked at the carpenter helplessly. "They can take on apprentices like this?"

I casually drew a pattern and handed it to him. The middle-aged carpenter frowned and went to the side to study it.

As for Luke, he led the rest of his men to begin crafting projectile arms and flat slings from ash wood.

A catapult is actually quite complex in terms of both time and structure, but the catapults we have now are simplified versions.

"This can be considered a prototype for the actual construction of a catapult. Besides, this one probably can't be taken with us; it can only be given to Pons, so it can't be built too well."

Luc had always had a plan for a catapult in mind.

If Knightsburg wants to strengthen its defenses, in addition to having strong walls and sufficient personnel, catapults are also a perfect weapon for both defense and attack.

Without having to do it himself, Luke focused on supervising the kneading of horsehair and tree bark.

For a catapult to be effective, the most important factor is the elasticity of the rope connecting the launching arm.

Since Pons didn't have many animal rubber bands, he had to settle for using horsehair.

First, people vigorously beat the bark until it rots open, then the bark fibers are glued to the horsehair layer by layer.

Meanwhile, Luke asked Hans to forge a thick wooden plank.

"Sir Luke, are you really capable of building a catapult?"

That afternoon, in the open space outside Ponsburg, Luc, who was busily directing everyone at work, saw Ponsburg come to inspect and nodded affirmatively:
"Don't worry, Baron Pons. I became the church contractor precisely because of my outstanding construction skills. You just need to recruit soldiers and teach Berg a lesson."

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” Pons said, his worry lessening. “It’s just… alas, my people seem weary of war and unwilling to follow me on campaigns anymore.”

At this point, Pons raised his eyes, which were showing signs of wrinkles, and asked, "Does the holy wine you mentioned from Aachen Cathedral really exist?"

Poons' repeated defeats and the deaths of his peasant soldiers were unfortunate. Even though he was forced to go to the battlefield again by the lord, he was still dissatisfied and worried about the morale of his army.

"Ha, I swear in the name of God, it absolutely exists!"

"If you can, you can go to Macon County and ask around; quite a few people there know about this wine."

Without batting an eye, Luke casually swore an oath.

To address the morale issue of Pons' army, Luc offered two suggestions: first, a hefty reward of sixty pfennigs for each enemy soldier killed on the battlefield; second, he would provide a batch of "holy wine," namely hops barley wine, to bless the farmers after the war.

That's good.

The devout Pons temporarily put his mind at ease, realizing that Luc was able to persuade him to go to war not only because of the catapults, but also because of strong religious factors.

A person who has witnessed the miracle of resurrection and was praised by the Cluny Abbey must surely be favored by God. Didn't you see that, according to Luc, even bards have begun to sing his praises?
Once Pons was out of sight, Miller quietly approached and said, "Master Raoul hasn't written a poem for you yet." "Does it matter whether you write it first or later? What matters is getting the wind blowing. Go, go see how the winch I asked for is being made!"

The second important feature of the catapult is the winch.

Having built wells and pulleys, the winch was no challenge for Lü Ke.

Two quick-witted serfs were specially selected, and Luc himself spent two days in the workshop successfully grinding the winch.

A week later, when all the finished products were gathered in one place, Luke dismissed the Pomberg group in the name of family secrets, and personally began assembling them with a few trusted confidants.

First, the beech base was placed horizontally on both sides of the grass. Taking Hans's thick wooden board, Luke bent over and forcefully hammered it into the inner wooden hole.

"Go find some splinters, stuff them into the gap, and then seal it with fish glue!"

"Yes!"

The Alie River also has fish, and there is no shortage of fish maw.

Next, stack small pieces of wood, and then build two parallel, closed "卩" shapes with slightly shorter crossbeams. At the rear end, nail other pieces of wood diagonally to form a stable triangle. Install another crossbeam on top of the two triangles. The gap between them is the starting point for the projectile arm.

"What about the winch and gears?"

Luke wiped the sweat from his brow. It was still hot in late summer. He should have brought some ice from Knightsburg.

The installation of winches and gears requires careful attention.

The gear is nailed to both ends, one on the left and one on the right. A valve is nailed into the front end of the gear so that it can be locked in place. A rounded thick wooden stick is inserted in the middle. A horsehair rope is wrapped around the stick. A counterweight is suspended at the bottom of the stick. The counterweight is connected to the crossbar that connects the two wooden wheels behind it.

Catapults are not bulky catapults; they naturally have wheels.

Once everything was ready, Luke turned the winch, and like drawing water from a well, the horsehair rope was slowly wound around the wooden stick.

"No problem, let's install the launcher arm!"

Luc's face lit up with excitement. Even a simple catapult was still a powerful weapon, and it was the method he had come up with for Ponce to deal with the large number of peasant soldiers of Baron Berg.

The projectile arm was fixed near the front wheel. The ash wood was both sturdy and flexible, and it took a while to secure it. Luke didn't remember the experiment; instead, he continued to check the stability of all aspects.

Byrne was ultimately not hired by Pons, not because he didn't want to, but because he simply didn't have enough money left.
While Luc was building the catapult, the knight Gal had been redeemed, but he had lost his chainmail and squire, and looked very disheveled. To compensate him and to ensure he would continue fighting for him, Pons rewarded him handsomely.

"The battlefield has no eyes. This is my first time participating in a large-scale field battle. It's necessary to have extra protection."

Luc eventually hired Byrne and his companion for 500 pfennigs to serve him and join Pons's camp. In return, he was given a catapult, four cavalrymen, and two crossbowmen in exchange for a 30% share of the spoils if they won.

When everything was ready, Luc specially invited Ponce and others to witness the power of the catapult.

Hans took off his shirt, revealing his muscular physique, tied the horsehair rope to the back of the catapult, exhaled a breath of stale air, and twisted the winch with all his might. With a series of clattering sounds, Hans retreated step by step, pulling the launching arm straight. Miller quickly placed a bag of pebbles on it, then raised the wooden hammer.

"Ha!" The wooden hammer struck the opening and closing rope, and with a bang, the launching arm sprang open!

More than twenty pebbles traced arcs in the air, like oval arrows, and struck the target 150 paces away.

Thump! Countless clouds of dust rose from the ground, and the target tilted to one side.

Pons gasped, grimacing as if a fierce boulder had smashed into his head, but the next second, he burst into laughter:

"Well done, my friend! With the catapults and God's blessing, we'll teach that greedy Berg a lesson this time!"

(End of this chapter)