The only chance of taking a fortress by direct attack was to fill up the
moat with earth and faggots, and then raise ladders against the walls;
or else to drive engines against the defenses, battering-rams which
struck them with heavy beams, mangonels which launched stones, sows
whose arched wooden backs protected troops of workmen who tried to
undermine the wall, and moving towers consisting of a succession of
stages or shelves, filled with soldiers, and with a bridge with iron
hooks, capable of being launched from the highest story to the top of
the battlements. The besieged could generally disconcert the battering-
ram by hanging beds or mattresses over the walls to receive the brunt of
the blow, the sows could be crushed with heavy stones, the towers burnt
by well-directed flaming missiles, the ladders overthrown, and in
general the besiegers suffered a great deal more damage than they could
inflict. Cannon had indeed just been brought into use at the battle of
Crecy, but they only consisted of iron bars fastened together with
hoops, and were as yet of little use, and thus there seemed to be little
danger to a well-guarded city from any enemy outside the walls.
Pages:
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252