The era commonly known as Early Modern Warfare began in the mid-15th century and lasted until the late 18th century. The widespread use of gunpowder in conjunction with weapons designed for its use dramatically changed the methods of warfare.
China had been using gunpowder for centuries before European countries started using it. Cannons were the first common weapons to use gunpowder. But at the time, all guns that used gunpowder were generally large, very heavy, required many men to deploy, and were difficult to handle, to say the least. Cannons first appeared in Europe in the late Middle Ages and their main use was to attack castles. The development of the siege gun quickly made the use of castles and their high walls, for their main defense, obsolete. The siege cannon meant that the attacker was now the favorite to be the final winner of the battle. As a result, the character of the defensive position had to be changed. The high castle walls gave way to sloping walls. These sloping walls would deflect cannon shots and allow the main defense mechanism, the wall itself, to remain intact. Castles with their high and relatively thin walls became obsolete as a defense tool.
Castles gave way to fortresses. These forts were built with thick sloping walls. To defend themselves, the cities had to spend a large amount of money to build the new fortresses. These fortresses, with their ability to sustain cannon fire, regained siege as the main tactic for attacking a position.
A siege is the assault on a city or fortress with the intention of winning through attrition, a more modern term is a blockade. When an attacker could not make the city or fortress surrender and realizing that a direct frontal attack would not be successful, he resorted to the siege tactic. A siege generally meant that the attackers would surround the objective, be it the city or a fortress with the intention of blocking the entry of supplies and provisions to the inhabitants.
Common siege tactics were
1. Mining or mining
Mining or mining involved digging a tunnel under the castle or fortress walls. The mines would have reinforced wooden walls as support. Once completed, the attackers would fill the mine with flammable materials and set it on fire. Later, with the use of gunpowder, the mines would be filled with explosives, which was a much more effective use of “sapping or mining”. The purpose of the mining was to tear down the wall above the mine and allow an entry point for attackers.
2. Artillery bombardment. Use everything imaginable to break through the fortress or castle wall and deal damage.
3. The use of siege engines.
There are many types of siege engines. The general categories are crossbow, ram, catapult, helepolis, mangonel, onager, siege tower, and catapult.
Ballista – This is a powerful weapon that resembles a giant crossbow. The purpose of the crossbow was to shoot heavy arrows. You could shoot the arrows one at a time or in groups. The ballista is also known as a bolt launcher. In earlier times, the Romans used the ballista to launch large stones, but during the Middle Ages the ballista was modified to launch arrows, which at that time were known as bolts. The crossbow is believed to have been inspired by the early crossbow. The ballista was made of wood and used animal tendons as rope or thread. Winches were used to pull (cock) the crossbow.
Ballista: The ballista was a very accurate weapon when shooting arrows (arrows), but accuracy came at the expense of range. The first known use of a ballista was in Italy in 400 BC. C. The catapult was a natural evolution of the ballista.
Ram: Rams are devices used to pierce fortification walls or gates. They have been in use since ancient times. The simplest form of a battering ram is a large, heavy log carried by several attackers to strike the fortress or the gate or the castle wall. The goal is to do enough damage to the wall or door to allow the attackers to enter.
A more efficient ram design was to use a wheeled frame to transport it. The ram was suspended with ropes or chains that allowed the ram to be much larger and to swing more easily. The sides and roofs of this improved type of ram were sometimes covered with protective materials to prevent them from catching fire and to protect attackers.
Some rams were not suspended with ropes or chains, but were placed on rollers. This would allow the ram to gain much greater speed and therefore deal much more damage. The Vitruvian writer described this type of rolling ram used by Alexander the Great.
To defend against a ram, defenders would drop obstacles in front of the ram or use grappling hooks to immobilize the ram or set the ram and / or its frame on fire. Another defense was simply launching an attack on the ram as it approached them.
The use of rams dates back to the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of Rome. They were also used during the Crusades.
Catapult: A catapult is a type of siege engine that is used to launch a projectile at a long distance. Catapults were not weapons that attackers took with them into battle and were generally built on the site of battle. They are made of wood and were abundant on most battlefields.
The differentiation of the different types of catapults comes from the way they used to store and release their energy.
The first type of catapult was a variation of the Roman ballista. These used ropes or tendons of animals to launch the objects. The rope or tendon was pulled back under tension and when the tension was released, the energy carried the projectile. So if the catapult stored and released the energy through tension, it is considered a tension catapult.
Another type of catapult is the torsion catapult. These have an arm with a bucket, cup, or sling to hold the projectile. Force is transferred to the sling through the use of a rope at the other end of the throwing arm. These strings are set tight to “charge” the catapult with torsional energy.
Helepolis – This is an ancient type of siege engine and was known as the City Taker. It was invented by Demetrius Poliorcetes for use during the siege of Salamis in Cyprus.
The shape of the original helepolis was a tall square tower that stood on four wheels. The helepolis was internally divided into nine different stories. The lower floors had machines that were used to launch projectiles (large stones). The central section contained catapults for launching darts (large spears). The upper section was used to launch smaller stones and smaller catapults. The helepolis was manned by two hundred soldiers and was propelled through a large transmission belt and wheel within the helepolis. Soldiers could propel the Hellepolis from the inside without having to take direct fire from the defenders.
Mangonel: This type of siege engine is a type of catapult used to launch projectiles at castle walls. The mangonel could launch projectiles at great distances (1,300 feet). This is a much longer distance than the trebuchet, which was invented later. The mangonel was not very accurate and threw the projectiles at a much lower angle than the trebuchet.
The mangonel was a torsion arm catapult that used a sling to hold the projectile. Energy was stored by twisting cords or tendons.
In battles, mangonels would throw stones, burn objects, or whatever else the attackers came up with. Containers filled with flammable materials were popular and created a large fireball on impact.
Onagro: The onager is a type of torsion catapult. Torsional energy is stored by twisting strings. The release of the energy provided a type of kicking action and hence the name onager meaning wild ass.
The construction of the onager was quite simple. It consisted of a frame that was kept on the ground. The front of the frame had a solid wood vertical frame attached to it. The vertical frame had a shaft running through it with a large radius protruding from it.
In battle, the radio was brought down by using twisted ropes or lowered with a winch to store the energy. When the energy was released, the radio struck the crossbar of the vertical frame violently and the projectile was fired forward.
A variation of the onager is the mangonel. The mangonel used a bowl to hold the projectile instead of the sling and was less powerful than the onager.
Siege Tower: This is a specialized siege engine that is used to protect attackers as they approach the fortress or castle walls. These were often rectangular in shape and sat on four wheels. They were built at a height of roughly the height of the wall and sometimes even higher. When built higher than the wall, the siege tower allowed archers to shoot at the castle or fortress.
These were heavy and difficult to maneuver and were generally built on the site of battle. They took a long time to build and were mainly used when all other types of siege tactics had failed, such as debuff or direct assault down stairs.
Its large size made it an easy target for defenders’ guns as they approached.
If the siege tower was successful, the last thing to do was to drop boards between the tower and the wall to allow the attackers to enter the fortress or castle.
The result of a siege falls into one of four categories:
1. If the defenders repelled the attackers without the aid of external forces, the position is considered to have been “held”.
2. If the defenders repelled the attackers with the help of external forces, the position is considered to have been “relieved” or “elevated”.
3. If the attackers manage to take the fortress, castle or city, but the defensive forces can escape, the position is considered to have been “evacuated”.
4. If the attackers succeed in taking the fortress, castle or city and also destroy and / or capture the defenders, the besieged entity is considered to have “fallen”.
