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Commonly used as a coup de grâce, but has also been a protest (as after the First World War). Shield wall: the massed use of interconnected shields to form a wall in battle. Shield wall (fortification): the highest and thickest wall of a castle protecting the main assault approach.
The walls of Benin are described as the world's second longest man-made structure, as well as the most extensive earthwork in the world, by the Guinness Book of Records, 1974. [38] [39] The walls may have been constructed between the thirteenth and mid-fifteenth century CE [40] or, during the first millennium CE.
The invention of the arrowslit is attributed to Archimedes during the siege of Syracuse in 214–212 BCE: [2]. From Polybius's (c. 200–118 BC) The Histories (Book VIII, Ch. 5): "Archimedes had had the walls pierced with large numbers of loopholes at the height of a man, which were about a palm's breadth wide at the outer surface of the walls.
A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a sally port, allowing defenders to make a sortie on the besiegers. Placed in a less ...
To breach the walls, Ferdinand ordered his soldiers to dig into the feldspar supporting the side of the mountain and place an explosive charge. Even after the powder was ignited and a substantial portion of the wall, the gate, and the inner walls were breached, the defenders still held out for three days. [4]
An exact nature of the walls of a medieval town or city would depend on the resources available for building them, the nature of the terrain, and the perceived threat. In northern Europe, early in the period, walls were likely to have been constructed of wood and proofed against small forces. Especially where stone was readily available for ...
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A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while others have wheels to enable advancing up to the enemy fortification.