Post by THE Justin on Nov 10, 2009 22:28:21 GMT
Another Invention!
Taishi stood in the stables. Ru Nan had huge stables, as they also accompanied the beasts that Taishi had just broken, the elephants of Wu. 26 of the beasts stood within their pens, talking to each other in their pachydermic language.
Taishi grabbed his elephant, a great beast, the matriarch of the herd he ha acquired. He led the beast into the courtyard, where he had taken in a bunch of lumber. Two of his aids brought in two more elephants, and together, they immediately got to work.
Taishi had a single pole mounted into the groove of where the elephant's normal platform would be placed, into the padding that the elephant normally had. Happy at the ability of the pole to stand rigid despite the elephant's motion, he had it taken down, and a platform made out to help stabilize it further. Wooden beams and wrappings would help negate the elephants natural motion and keep it stiff.
At the top of the pole, a trebuchet arm was affixed. The Chinese Trebuchet was generally fired by a group of men pulling on ropes at the same time, using their combined strength to pull the arm down, and fling a projectile at the target. The elephant Trebuchet was a bit stronger than that, as a single elephant was infinitely stronger than even a few men. Their trunks could easily haul over a thousand pounds, let alone a single beam arm and shot.
With the trebuchet being completed by his assistants, Ci moved onto the next elephant. He had plans for an arbalest, and a mobile arbalest would be a boon to the Wu forces. Building a rudimentary version that fired 10 shots in a straight line. Placed gently upon the elephant's back, the arbalest was modified to have a curved bottom so as to help the elephant with weight distribution. Inside the arbalest there was room for two men to torque on the bow in the back. The wooden box was set at a slightly downward angle, and angle that could be increased or decreased by both the operators or the elephant; the operators could control its angle within the machine, and the elephant could be commanded to lean or kneel from the rider, whom was protected within the box as well.
Taishi test fired the arbalest. The elephant recoiled slightly with the first firing, but took consecutive firings in stride, standing so as to allow the bolts to hit the target dummies spot on. The elephant turned to face a new threat, and the arbalest fired with deadly accuracy. Taishi was happy; he would have to invest in this further with an actual arbalest.
Turning back to the trebuchet elephant, he turned in time to see the elephant stand, a 10 foot pole on its back with a single line down from it that had a handle on it. The elephant's trunk was threaded into the handle. With a command from one of his assistants, the elephant pulled downwards, and the trebuchet arm rocketed forwards. It hits its apex and the stone within the arm was thrown from the sling, flying forwards, smashing into a building within Ru Nan.
Taishi began laughing heartily, and the elephant responded as well with a loud trumpet. Taishi looked at the two newest creations; faster moving siege weapons with the ability to quickly change back into regular shock troops. He was surprised at the ease of adapting two of his former weapons, and creating two new deadly weapons. He smiled, and knew that he and these elephants would go far.
Taishi stood in the stables. Ru Nan had huge stables, as they also accompanied the beasts that Taishi had just broken, the elephants of Wu. 26 of the beasts stood within their pens, talking to each other in their pachydermic language.
Taishi grabbed his elephant, a great beast, the matriarch of the herd he ha acquired. He led the beast into the courtyard, where he had taken in a bunch of lumber. Two of his aids brought in two more elephants, and together, they immediately got to work.
Taishi had a single pole mounted into the groove of where the elephant's normal platform would be placed, into the padding that the elephant normally had. Happy at the ability of the pole to stand rigid despite the elephant's motion, he had it taken down, and a platform made out to help stabilize it further. Wooden beams and wrappings would help negate the elephants natural motion and keep it stiff.
At the top of the pole, a trebuchet arm was affixed. The Chinese Trebuchet was generally fired by a group of men pulling on ropes at the same time, using their combined strength to pull the arm down, and fling a projectile at the target. The elephant Trebuchet was a bit stronger than that, as a single elephant was infinitely stronger than even a few men. Their trunks could easily haul over a thousand pounds, let alone a single beam arm and shot.
With the trebuchet being completed by his assistants, Ci moved onto the next elephant. He had plans for an arbalest, and a mobile arbalest would be a boon to the Wu forces. Building a rudimentary version that fired 10 shots in a straight line. Placed gently upon the elephant's back, the arbalest was modified to have a curved bottom so as to help the elephant with weight distribution. Inside the arbalest there was room for two men to torque on the bow in the back. The wooden box was set at a slightly downward angle, and angle that could be increased or decreased by both the operators or the elephant; the operators could control its angle within the machine, and the elephant could be commanded to lean or kneel from the rider, whom was protected within the box as well.
Taishi test fired the arbalest. The elephant recoiled slightly with the first firing, but took consecutive firings in stride, standing so as to allow the bolts to hit the target dummies spot on. The elephant turned to face a new threat, and the arbalest fired with deadly accuracy. Taishi was happy; he would have to invest in this further with an actual arbalest.
Turning back to the trebuchet elephant, he turned in time to see the elephant stand, a 10 foot pole on its back with a single line down from it that had a handle on it. The elephant's trunk was threaded into the handle. With a command from one of his assistants, the elephant pulled downwards, and the trebuchet arm rocketed forwards. It hits its apex and the stone within the arm was thrown from the sling, flying forwards, smashing into a building within Ru Nan.
Taishi began laughing heartily, and the elephant responded as well with a loud trumpet. Taishi looked at the two newest creations; faster moving siege weapons with the ability to quickly change back into regular shock troops. He was surprised at the ease of adapting two of his former weapons, and creating two new deadly weapons. He smiled, and knew that he and these elephants would go far.