The article describes what a siege is, when a similar method of warfare is used, types of sieges and their advantages with disadvantages are examined.
Ancient times
In ancient times, a siege was often used. What is a siege and why was it used? Let's figure it out.
Probably everyone, and especially lovers of books about the Middle Ages, heard about a similar method of warfare, or rather, starvation of the enemy. But first things first.
People have always fought, starting from those times when our ancestors looked like modern people quite distantly. Alas, little has changed since then, except that some methods of waging war and their means have changed.
With the development of a normal civilized society, a new type of war gradually appeared, which was called siege. After all, with the construction of large cities, castles and just fortresses, their owners primarily thought about defensive capabilities, since in those days most of them lacked centralized power and a regular army, and residents or “owners” of principalities and provinces had to take care of their security and wait out such a nuisance as a siege. What is a siege, how is it happening and what are its species, we will analyze in detail.
Definition
According to the encyclopedia, a siege is a military or tactical device, the meaning of which is a blockade of a city, fortress or other territory with the aim of storming or depleting and destroying the garrison after spending all supplies.
In the Middle Ages, the possession of one or another fortress meant a lot, but for a start it had to be captured altogether. Their owners perfectly understood this, and therefore almost constantly improved their defense - they dug ditches with water, built strong drawbridge, mounted towers with loopholes for crossbowmen on the walls, prepared a reserve of stones for throwing, etc. Naturally, throw troops at a well-fortified object unreasonable, and then, the enemy often resorted to such an action as a siege. What is meant by this term? In simple terms, it’s just the environment of a fortress or other object and fortification in positions with further waiting for the right moment for the assault.
But sometimes one had to wait several months before the defenders ran out of supplies, and even a half-dead defender could still throw stones on the enemy’s head or pour boiling tar, and therefore various siege weapons began to be invented. For example, catapults effectively destroyed manpower on the walls, and large and protected from stones and arrows rams knocked down the gate. So now we know what a siege is, the definition of this word has become clearer.
Artillery
But gradually, starting from the time of the Napoleonic wars, the role of the siege lost its significance. It is dangerous to wait several months at the gates of someone else’s fortress or city, since during this time the remaining enemy troops could come up, or the whole course of the war could change at all - many long protracted battles were left behind. In addition, the improvement of artillery played a huge role. The defenders could destroy enemy soldiers from afar, and the latter could completely destroy the fortress. So now we know what a siege is, the meaning of this word is interpreted unambiguously.
Current state of affairs
Currently, siege as such is rarely used, but of the most famous cases, it is probably worth recalling the siege of Leningrad and Stalingrad during the Great Patriotic War. The purpose of the siege was exactly the same as during the Middle Ages - to deplete the reserves of the defenders and seize power in the besieged cities with minimal losses.
So now we know the meaning of the word "siege". What is a siege and what is the role of this maneuver in ancient wars is known to every attentive reader.