can reach those things, Janisal?”
His chief engineer winced at the anger in the words, but shook his head.
“Not that I know of, sir, especially now that our airships are gone. I would bet that some canisters of Greek fire would knock them out for a while, and probably blow up the gunpowder they are using to fire those things.” The older man spread his arms apologetically. “They’ve got them hidden and protected, they outrange us, and they seem to be accursedly good at targeting our own artillery all along the wall.”
“Well at this rate, we will not have much of a wall left to defend by the end of today.” The Mongolian artillery was focusing on a stretch of defensive works close to the river, slamming into one of the oldest stretches of wall. The ancient stonework was no match for the heavy hitting projectiles. With each fusillade of fire came a cascading torrent of crumbling mortar and stones.
“Why not just use the skimmers ?” came a familiar voice.
“Ah! Engineer Monventus, glad to see you have not fled the city.” The other man shrugged.
“There were no more airships out, and the last train left at midnight, hoping to avoid Mongol patrols to the south. I figured that I could test some new weapon ideas I have been working on while we were under siege.”
Regillus looked at him, unable to keep his jaw from dropping. The engineer was risking his life to test inventions? In a warzone ? Janisal spoke up.
“You must be a bit wrong in the head to want to stay here,” he said in disbelief.
“Nonsense, I am simply a pragmatist. I could not get away, so I might as well be useful. Did you hear my recommendation earlier?” he asked, obviously moving beyond the question of his sanity. “I said we should use skimmers to knock out their artillery.”
“Our skimmers are not equipped with weapons!” Janisal complained. “They are too light to carry any containers of Greek fire.”
“Then let us equip them with gunpowder instead! Cut a hole in the bottom and give each man a few of those pila warheads your legionnaires are so fond of using.” Monventus would not back down. The other man immediately began to argue. Regillus held his hand up.
“Stop!” His command was punctuated by another thundering explosion.
“If it is possible, do it. We have nothing else to lose. The walls can’t take this beating much longer.”
Monventus nodded, a smug look on his face. Janisal shook his head.
“As you wish, sir.”
Mere hours later, Regillus stood at the same tower, spyglass in hand as he watched Antioch’s only remaining air assets launch into the air from the central airfield. The sputtering sound of their propellers was barely audible over the crash and boom of the siege. Five of the wood and glass constructs moved into a v-formation and angled their way north. The perfect angle for an attack run . Regillus extended the spyglass and trained it onto the skimmers . He could see crude struts welded to the wings, each skimmer carrying half a dozen small metal canisters along each wing.
I hope Monventus’ idea works . If it does, I think Roman ingenuity just granted our empire another reprieve . The skimmers moved into a ragged line, their wooden wings shaking under the additional weight. Regillus turned to watch the Mongolian siege lines. We have to destroy those cannons! The term had been coined by some of the legionnaires manning the tower, and the name had stuck. May as well call it what it is - a large, metal tube. He could already see movement as the Mongolians wheeled some of their missile carts into position. The officer said a hasty prayer as the first rocket shot up from the ground, shooting right past the skimmers to explode harmlessly further up.
“Yes! They are too low to the ground for the rockets to hit!” Other men manning the tower cheered as well, as the first skimmer flew in low to drop its payload of warheads. The small explosives looked like black snow tinkling to the ground.
His chief engineer winced at the anger in the words, but shook his head.
“Not that I know of, sir, especially now that our airships are gone. I would bet that some canisters of Greek fire would knock them out for a while, and probably blow up the gunpowder they are using to fire those things.” The older man spread his arms apologetically. “They’ve got them hidden and protected, they outrange us, and they seem to be accursedly good at targeting our own artillery all along the wall.”
“Well at this rate, we will not have much of a wall left to defend by the end of today.” The Mongolian artillery was focusing on a stretch of defensive works close to the river, slamming into one of the oldest stretches of wall. The ancient stonework was no match for the heavy hitting projectiles. With each fusillade of fire came a cascading torrent of crumbling mortar and stones.
“Why not just use the skimmers ?” came a familiar voice.
“Ah! Engineer Monventus, glad to see you have not fled the city.” The other man shrugged.
“There were no more airships out, and the last train left at midnight, hoping to avoid Mongol patrols to the south. I figured that I could test some new weapon ideas I have been working on while we were under siege.”
Regillus looked at him, unable to keep his jaw from dropping. The engineer was risking his life to test inventions? In a warzone ? Janisal spoke up.
“You must be a bit wrong in the head to want to stay here,” he said in disbelief.
“Nonsense, I am simply a pragmatist. I could not get away, so I might as well be useful. Did you hear my recommendation earlier?” he asked, obviously moving beyond the question of his sanity. “I said we should use skimmers to knock out their artillery.”
“Our skimmers are not equipped with weapons!” Janisal complained. “They are too light to carry any containers of Greek fire.”
“Then let us equip them with gunpowder instead! Cut a hole in the bottom and give each man a few of those pila warheads your legionnaires are so fond of using.” Monventus would not back down. The other man immediately began to argue. Regillus held his hand up.
“Stop!” His command was punctuated by another thundering explosion.
“If it is possible, do it. We have nothing else to lose. The walls can’t take this beating much longer.”
Monventus nodded, a smug look on his face. Janisal shook his head.
“As you wish, sir.”
Mere hours later, Regillus stood at the same tower, spyglass in hand as he watched Antioch’s only remaining air assets launch into the air from the central airfield. The sputtering sound of their propellers was barely audible over the crash and boom of the siege. Five of the wood and glass constructs moved into a v-formation and angled their way north. The perfect angle for an attack run . Regillus extended the spyglass and trained it onto the skimmers . He could see crude struts welded to the wings, each skimmer carrying half a dozen small metal canisters along each wing.
I hope Monventus’ idea works . If it does, I think Roman ingenuity just granted our empire another reprieve . The skimmers moved into a ragged line, their wooden wings shaking under the additional weight. Regillus turned to watch the Mongolian siege lines. We have to destroy those cannons! The term had been coined by some of the legionnaires manning the tower, and the name had stuck. May as well call it what it is - a large, metal tube. He could already see movement as the Mongolians wheeled some of their missile carts into position. The officer said a hasty prayer as the first rocket shot up from the ground, shooting right past the skimmers to explode harmlessly further up.
“Yes! They are too low to the ground for the rockets to hit!” Other men manning the tower cheered as well, as the first skimmer flew in low to drop its payload of warheads. The small explosives looked like black snow tinkling to the ground.
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