|

楼主 |
发表于 2009-7-15 23:49:01
|
显示全部楼层
第四章:配重式投石机(TREBUCHET)Li1 xu
这种器械,比起古代希腊人和罗马人所使用得投石机和弩砲来,是一种相当晚近的发明了。据说,是由法国人在12世纪将其引入围城作战的。而投石机和弩砲则在基督纪元前数世纪就已被人使用。1280年左右,埃吉迪奥·科伦纳曾对这种器械做了相当精确的描写,当时配重式投石机(以下为省称并和CATAPULT区别,称为抛石机)已是有效的攻城器械了。knky
这种器械的投射力来自沉重的配重物的重力,而不像投石机和弩砲那样来自于绳索的扭力。大约自12世纪中叶起,抛石机就在很大程度上取代了投石机。对于抛石机的偏好可能是由于它可以将重达300磅(136kg)的石弹投射出去,比起最大型的投石机所能发射的石弹要沉5~6倍[12]。q[
1kj
[12]扭力式投石机的制造工艺已被遗忘,所以在引入配重式投石机之前的数世纪里,扭力式投石机的效能比起从前大为不如。HGi
/M
约瑟夫斯时代的投石机所发射的石弹毫无疑问可以摧毁塔楼和雉堞——这要集中多台投石机长期密集轰击才行。可是由抛石机所发射的一块重达200-300磅(91-136kg)的石弹就足以撼动最为坚固的砖石结构的防御工事。抛石机主要用于摧毁堡垒护墙的上部结构,结果就可以用伸缩云梯或其他方式越过城墙。而投石机,由于其射程较长,主要用于给城镇防御工事内部的人员或住宅造成破坏。`t)2H
通过在一定尺寸的模型上的实验以及其他来源,我发现,最大号的抛石机——其杆臂长度接近50英尺(15.24米),配重达到2万磅(9.07吨),能够将200-300磅的石弹投射出300码远(274米)。照我的观点看来,这种器械的射程是达不到350码(320米)[13]。}bq(i
[13] 埃吉迪奥·科伦纳告诉我们说某些时候,也有制造时不带配重的配重式投石机,此时,投石机的杆臂是由很多人一起托拽而不是由重物下坠。我无法相信此事。不论有多少人托拽投石机的杆臂,其力量都不可能达到重物下坠时其重力所转化的拉力。【参见本章之后的中译者注】HV2L
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 J}.`HV
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛
此主题相关图片如下:X@
-kg-t
{=S
j
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 (6
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 (5
图18:一具投射石弹的攻城机弩d/8:
作者评价:杆臂已经全部拉开,盘车上的滑轮组已经和杆臂分开。石弹已置于掷弹带中,通过托拽杆臂末端的滑钩就可以发射了。滑钩与图10中的结构相类似。/
注意:图中出现的罗马士兵是时代错误。抛石机是在罗马人的时代之后发明的。LWpZ|
抛石机上总是有一条掷弹带以安放弹丸。掷弹带使得投石机的威力倍增,弹丸的射程因此而增长了一倍。抛石机的威力来自其杆臂、重量合适的配重以及掷弹带。其杆臂在释放滑钩之后,缓缓的以直径很长的圆形回转,不必借助任何手段就达到了投石机较短的杆臂所能达到的(末端线)速度。2[C
抛石机的掷弹重量是由其配重控制的。这种抛石机的威力几乎没有上限,限制因素只有器械本身的强度和操作的要求。从中世纪的作家那里可以找到无数的记载,将死马抛进被围城池,以期引起瘟疫——毫无疑问只有抛石机才能用于此种目的。一匹小马的重量约为10英担(1120磅=508kg)。由此,我们可以对抛石机所能抛射的巨石或石弹的大小有个概念了。j
当我们设想使用一台抛石机将马掷过城墙,我们就应相信斯岱拉的说法[14],“1376年热那亚派驻塞浦路斯的军队中,除了其他的巨型器械之外,有一部能发射12英担(609kg!)巨石的器械”。C|
3
[14]:斯岱拉(Stella)活跃于14世纪末到15世纪初,著有《热那亚编年史》,记载了1298-1409年间事。穆拉托里将其收入25卷的大作《Rerum Italicarum Scriptores》,1723-1728年出版 ;L$*U
维拉尔·德·奥诺库尔[15]曾提到过一台抛石机,其配重的盛沙箱框架为12英尺长,8英尺宽,12英尺深(3.65×2.44×3.65米)。这样的器械尺寸惊人也就很容易理解了。例如,圣徒路易九世在撤离达米埃塔时带走的24台抛石机就给整个营地提供了栅栏[16]。1291年当异教徒攻取阿卡时所用的抛石机,装了足足一百辆大车[17]。1428-1429年间著名的奥尔良城防中,一座巨型投石机塞满了奥尔良城的圣保罗塔楼,此前将其拆卸开以防御英国人时,木料装满了26辆大车[18]。=KNW
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 R{+
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 glp^5L
[15]维拉尔·德·奥诺库尔,十三世纪的一名工程专家,他的文集由R.维利斯硕士在1859年翻译出版 MT*_2
[16]让·德·儒安维尔,他伴随路易九世前往达米埃塔。他的回忆录,做于1309年,1859年由F·米歇尔出版。 b
[17]阿布尔菲达,1273-1331,阿拉伯士兵兼历史学家,著有《穆斯林编年史》,1789-94年由Hafnire出版。阿布尔菲达自己就是这一百辆大车的指挥。u'U=-
[18]来自从该市市政厅所发现的一步关于围城历史的手稿,1576年由该市的书商Saturnin Holot出版。* Jayb
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 }:;Ot
;$%d>
各种各样的物品,包括马、人、石弹和爆炸弹都可用抛石机投射。《瓦萨夫书》 记载道:“1296年,当德里城的守军拒绝给阿老丁·基尔西打开大门时,他在攻城器械中装上几袋金子,将其发射到堡内,这一措施结束了敌对行为。”Jq
【德里苏丹政权的建立·希尔基王朝的统治 加拉鲁丁·希尔基(Jalu'd-din Khiliji or Khelji)创立的王朝,一般叫做希尔基王朝(1292-1320),他本来是巴班当政时,奴隶王朝的将军,建立王朝之时,他已是七十高龄的人,所以国家大事多由他外甥,也是他的养子阿老丁(Ala-uddin)协助处理。一二九四年,阿老丁远征德干以后,觊觎苏丹位,谋杀他的舅父而即苏丹位。】(
图18和20上可以看出抛石机的构造和工作原理。E,v
fj9
[19]瓦萨夫,波斯历史学家,著述时间为13世纪末至14世纪初。书的序言中注明的时间是1288年,但书中所记内容直至1312年。oYRJ'
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 F
此主题相关图片如下:Lw[
~
zv
|?-IT'
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 v1hxrk
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 FN
图19:使用抛石机将死马发射进城Z?!fi
From ' Il Codice Atlantico,’ Leonardo da Vinci, 1445-1520%9(amk
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 y
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 ()NFmD
此主题相关图片如下:/oHZ:g
wa`*=
l)\f
}_D5C
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 N32n
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 jy*
图20:抛石机的动作-#
A:杆臂被拉到低位,在盘车的牵引绳脱钩以前就用滑钩固定住。 B:滑钩滑脱,杆臂被释放,将石弹从掷弹带中射出Sp{$L
C: 杆臂到达向上行程的终点。fRT
两段重要的补充内容,由于不是作者原意,故单独列出。以下两段文字都引自J·K·Kaufmann和H·W·Kaufmann的著作《THE MEDIEVaL FORTRESS》,目前还未有汉译本。RT
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 Y
1.关于注13,埃吉迪奥·科伦纳的记载是否属实?e#;
……A simpler weapon, sometimes confused with the trebuchet, was the perrier , which was initially used by the Arabs in the Levent. It too consisted of a beam with a sling, looking much like a trebuchet. However, instead of being set into motion by a counterweight, it relied on man- or animal power to provide the force necessary to launch the projectile.^
---------------------- The Medieval Fortress, pp66.XU{H
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 G,BeR
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 juSS
2.关于配重式投石机的威力Fd0=
We are told by the medieval chroniclers that some of these weapons reached ranges of 500 meters and lobbed projectiles weightings as much as 200 to 300 pounds.F\]l8?
Tests with reconstructed weapons done in 1999 by Professor Wayne Neel of Virginia Military Institute with the group of specialists and Renaud Beffeyete, a French restorer of castles, for the public broadcasting system program series NOVA near Urqyhart Castle overlooking Lochness, confirmed that the trebuchet was capable of hurling projectiles of 250 pounds with surprising accuracy, but not long ranges reported by chroniclers.%-ERX
---------------------History of Medieval Artillery, Appendix III of The Medieval Fortress.ZN_X8r
?小隐在线历史论坛 -- 小隐在线历史论坛 9--UWJ
关于人力拖拽式的投石机(perrier)的起源和发展以及从东方到西方,又从西方到东方的传播演进的历史,在唐朝和宋朝,尤其是襄阳城围攻中的使用,可以参考《Men-at-Arms系列,东方的攻城器械(1)》。{
————————————————————————————————
On the 1st December 1135 the relatively peaceful reign of Henry I, King of England ended with the kings death. Without a male heir to succeed him England was plunged into its first and undoubtedly the most bloody of its civil wars. The war lasted some 18 years and saw the country systematically ravaged from end to end with a few pitched battles at which point the whole course of the war hung in the balance for both sides for a few hours. It was a bloody war of succession between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda over who would rule England, whilst the great magnates played both sides to further their own petty aims and ambitions. It is little surprise therefore that the period is commonly known as the Anarchy, a name that reflects well what England and the common people endured throughout those long years. The treachery of the nobility directly caused the long duration of the war as neither leader was able to trust the majority of their followers and as such major battles were a huge risk for both leaders as they could never be sure of the loyalty of the majority of their faction.
The first phase of the Anarchy saw the extensive building of new castles and the enhancement of the defences of most of the existing castles in the country. These castles were the bases of operations for all of the armies and were the key to controlling the land around them. From the land and the peasants came the food and taxes, so the loss of one castle could be a bad blow to a faction, the loss or gain of control of a major castle/city could be a turning point in the war. The barons were not slow to exploit the lack of royal restraint on their activates and many pillaged the lands around them and amassed vast fortunes whilst cruelly oppressing the local people.
The monks, who are the only historians of these dark days, left a grim picture of the ravages of war and famine, without parallel save for the days of the Black Death some 200 years later. The Fens suffered form a particularly ruthless and cruel baronage, as is detailed in the writings of the Peterborough monks:
"For every powerful man built his castles… And they filled the country with castles. When the castles were built, they filled them with devils and wicked men. Then, both by night and day, they took those people who they thought had and goods – men and women – and put them in prison and tortured them with indescribable tortures to extort gold and silver; for no martyrs were ever so tortured as they were. They were hung by their thumbs or by the head, and corselets were hung from their feet. Knotted ropes were put around their heads and twisted until they penetrated to the brains. They put them in prisons where there were adders and snakes and toads and killed them like that. Some they put in a torture chamber – that is in a chest that was short, narrow and shallow, and they put sharp stones in it and pressed the man in it so he had all his limbs broken. In many of the castles was a ‘noose and trap’ – consisting of chains on such a kind that two or three men had enough to do to carry one. It was so made that it was fastened to a beam, and they used to put a sharp iron around a mans throat and his neck, so that he could not in any direction either sit or lie or sleep, but had to carry all that iron. Many thousands they killed by starvation… When the wrenched people had no more to give, they robbed and burned all the villages, so that you could easily go a whole days journey and never find anyone occupying a village, nor land tilled. Then corn was dear, and meat and butter and cheese, because there was none in the country. Wrenched people died of starvation; some lived by begging for alms, who had once been rich men; some fled the country."
As other chroniclers noted it was during this time that Christ and all the saints slept whilst England suffered…..
Castles, their siege and defence quickly became the major focus of the war, and open battles were a rarity as well as a huge gamble for both sides. Over 1000 new castles were constructed in the first half of the war and many other strongholds were significantly added to almost making them into castles in their own right. Taking a castle was no easy matter as the military architects who designed them chose well the sites that they were built on to ensure their strength and longevity during a siege.
The traditional methods for taking a castle in this time were; all out assault, undermining, starvation, or treachery. All out assault was risky as you might take the castle but lose so many men doing it that you could not then defend the castle if you were attacked by a relieving force. Worse still you could be bloodily repulsed and then not be left with enough men to adequately lay siege to the castle. Undermining was a popular method of siege. This is where sappers dug out the bottom of a wall and placed tar soaked props under the wall as they went, when the mine was finished it was fired so as the props burned out the wall would collapse. The defenders were not idle in this time however. Bowls of water were placed on the walls and the garrison would watch them for signs of vibration that indicated that sappers were at work. Then they might counter sap and a bloody battle would then happen underground when both sides sappers met, or as at Dover in 1216 the garrison fell back and as the wall fell, the French charged the breach and the garrison counter charged and after a bloody fight the garrison managed the block the breach and keep control of the castle. Starvation was the default siege method but most castles were adequately provisioned to withstand long periods of siege and its was not always possible to leave a large army standing in their siege lines to wait months for a surrender. The last technique was treachery and a few castles fell this way to surprise attacks but very few in total.
The main aim of a besieging force who can't storm a castle is to make the life of the defending garrison as miserable as possible and to keep itself active so boredom does not let the besiegers slip something past you. As such the Anarchy saw the first use of siege engines in England. These were not the massive rock hurling devices of the 13th/14th centuries but far more modest engines. Their use was not to batter walls as the rocks they used were too small to damage a stone wall rather their use was more to harass the garrison and to keep the besieging force occupied with some activity. The common missiles hurled into a castle were; quicklime to blind people, bees and hornets nests, pots of oil, followed by incendiaries (remember that all the roofs were thatch or wood shingles), and lastly sometimes the severed limbs and heads of any relatives of the garrison that the besiegers could get their hands on.
First seen in the Korean war of 618 by the Japanese and having come from China the Perrier was a man powered counterpoise engine. The first credible use of it in Europe was in 1134 in Denmark, but the Danes were totally unskilled in its use and had a group of Germans operate it for them. The last use of them was by the British Army in Gibraltar in 1779 to bombard areas where the cannons could not fire into a ravine!
Weight:
3/4 Ton
Main base frame:
10" * 5"
Main frame Height:
9' 6"
Throwing arm:
14' 6"
Construction Material:
English Oak
Crew:
5 - 7 or 9
Best shot with 2kg ammunition is about 170 meters down range and over a 30 meter raised wall at Dover castle.
(1 Kilo = 2.2 pounds. Yard = 36 inches, 39 inches to the meter.)
Shortly we hope to start construction of our next siege weapon, a Trebuchet. This will be about 20-35% larger that our Perrier and able to hurl a larger rock a lot further than the 140 yards currently possible with our Perrier. Below are a couple of photographs of one that is based at Carephilly Castle in Wales, which we crew and fire on their artillery days. This engine can fire a 15 kilo rock about 200 meters and it takes a crew of 12 to load.
Weight:
3.5 Tons
Main base frame:
24 * 18
Main frame Height:
12' 6"
Throwing arm:
32' 6"
Construction Material:
English Oak
Crew:
12 to 15
Timber sizes:
8*6 / 6*6
|
|