Medieval siege 中世纪攻城战-2

（单词翻译）

In the year 1304, Edward Longshanks, more formally known as King Edward I of England, mounted the greatest siege of his reign¹ against the Scots and their castle at Stirling. The attack dragged on. Impatient for victory, Edward ordered 50 carpenters to immediately begin building a monstrous² new weapon. So powerful, it would breach³ the strong walls of Stirling Castle. Details about the weapon design are tantalizingly⁴ vague, except that it was nicknamed Wallwolf, and its appearance outside the walls terrified the garrison⁵. Was it the atomic bomb of the Middle Ages?

With one blow, Wallwolf leveled a section of wall, successfully concluding the siege of Stirling Castle. What kind of a weapon was Wallwolf?

What are we doing? Are you, you won't to go up there now? Do you think you'd better take a pair of pliers up in case that......?

Hew⁶ Kennedy is a Shropshire landowner and medieval armor expert. Ten years ago, he became intrigued⁷ by a picture of a machine drawn⁸ by Leonardo da Vinci. It appeared to be a device for throwing dead horses, called a trebuchet. Inspired by the power of the machine that could hurl⁹ such heavy missiles, Hew decided¹⁰ to try building one himself-a quest, which eventually led to this piano-flinging contraption, a mechanized catapult made from a laminated beam, scrap¹¹ metal, telephone poles and steel cable.

In essence, a trebuchet is a giant seesaw¹² with a very heavy weight at one end and a much lighter¹³ missile attached to the other. As the heavier weight drops, the lighter projectile's swept by its sling¹⁴ towards the enemy. Hew is convinced that Warwolf, Edward's great wall busting¹⁶ siege engine, must have been a trebuchet.

If you chuck a thing that heavy at a stone wall, it will shatter it. Stone missiles are a lot more effective than grand pianos.

To test out Hew's confidence in the destructive capability¹⁷ of a medieval trebuchet, NOVA is preparing some hard sandstone balls weighing 250 pounds, and a wall is made of sandstone and lime mortar¹⁸. In construction and design, it is based on the upper section of a typical castle wall of the 13th century. Hew wants to build a trebuchet capable of knocking it down. But at a range of 200 yards it will require precision as well as brute¹⁹ force.

From the wind persistence²⁰ point of view, it's much more .....I don't know, it could go further

Michael Prestwich, a medieval historian, will ensure that Hew's next trebuchet will be based on an authentic²¹ 13th century design.

And I suppose when it's got to the top of its trajectory²², it starts coming down again. And it really looks quite frightening.

Yeah

But I am glad I wasn't standing²³ underneath²⁴ it.

It would bust¹⁵ up a building all right, wouldn't it?

It's the first time I,ve seen a full-scale trebuchet in operation, to see the high trajectory of it, and the way the missile and the sheer speed with which it falls. It's a fantastic sight.