Page 24 of 266

[It is not quite clear what the Chinese word, here translated as

"mantlets", described. Ts'ao Kung simply defines them as "large

shields," but we get a better idea of them from Li Ch'uan, who

says they were to protect the heads of those who were assaulting

the city walls at close quarters. This seems to suggest a sort of

Roman testudo, ready made. Tu Mu says they were wheeled vehicles

used in repelling attacks, but this is denied by Ch'en Hao. See

supra II. 14. The name is also applied to turrets on city walls.

Of the "movable shelters" we get a fairly clear description from

several commentators. They were wooden missile-proof structures

on four wheels, propelled from within, covered over with raw

hides, and used in sieges to convey parties of men to and from

the walls, for the purpose of filling up the encircling moat with

earth. Tu Mu adds that they are now called "wooden donkeys."]

and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take

three months more.