As soon as walls began to be erected around ancient cities to protect against enemy attacks, this served as an impetus for the appearance of assault guns, the main purpose of which was to break such walls. Let's take a closer look at them.
Appearance of wall-beater
It is believed that the first wall-beater was invented by the Carthaginian masters - Patherasmen and Geras. This happened around 500 BC. e., and the Carthaginians used it during the siege of Gadis (Cadiz), a city in Spain. Like it or not, whether these masters were the first inventors of the battering ram, no one can say for sure. But the chroniclers of those times, describing the Carthaginian sieges, mentioned that, along with other siege machines, a battering ram was also used.
First guns
An ancient battering ram for breaching gates or walls, later called a battering ram, was an ordinary log of ash or spruce. In this form, the gun was very heavy, and taking into account the fact that it had to be carried by hand, sometimes up to a hundred soldiers had to be involved in its operation.
The whole thing was extremely wasteful in terms of human resources and very inconvenient,so further improvement began. The battering ram - a ram - was originally hung on a special frame, and then installed on wheels. It was much easier to use it this way. Now, in order to deliver the gun to the place and swing for the attack, much fewer people were required.
For more efficient work, a metal tip was attached to the combat end of the log, which looked like a ram's head. Because of this, the battle log was often called that - "ram". Most likely, in the oldest saying: “looks like a ram at a new gate”, it was a ram, and not a real animal.
But the improvements didn't stop there. The fact is that during the attack from the walls of the city on the heads of the soldiers driving the ram, stones and arrows flew, boiling water and hot resin poured. Therefore, in order to protect the warriors, the frame with the log was covered with a canopy from above, and later covered with shields from all sides. Thus, the assault detachment, swinging the battering ram, was at least somehow protected from the misfortunes falling and pouring from the walls. Such a covered ram for its external resemblance to the famous reptile began to be called a "tortoise".
Sometimes the turtle was a structure consisting of several floors, each of which had its own battering ram. Thus, it became possible to break through the wall at the same time at different levels.
But such a weapon was, for obvious reasons, very bulky and heavy, soused infrequently.
Falcon - an old military battering ram
When the battering ram first appeared in Russia, it is not known for certain, but starting from the second half of the 12th century, written sources mention the capture of cities with a “spear”. It can be assumed that it was then, during sieges, in internecine wars, that the attackers first began to use the falcon - a battering ram-type weapon.
In fact, the falcon did not differ in its design from the known analogues. The same smooth bare log suspended on chains or ropes. True, sometimes a tree was replaced by an all-metal cylinder. By the way, according to one of the versions, the statement “a goal is like a falcon” came precisely from associations with the appearance of a Russian gun.
Ways to counter ramming
The wall-beater was certainly a very effective means of assault, so counter tactics were also developed against its use:
- In order to somehow soften the blows of the log, a bag stuffed with soft material, wool or chaff was lowered from the walls to the level of its head.
- Sewage, boiling water, burning tar, oil, stones and arrows were poured on the heads of the assault detachment accompanying the ram. The besieged tried to set fire to the wooden structure of the gun.
- Ditches were dug on the approaches to the city walls and filled with water, a drawbridge was thrown over the ditch, which rose during the attack. Such measures prevented the Falcon from rolling up to the walls.
- If it turned out that the ram to the wallscities will be delivered by horses, sharply sharpened metal "hedgehogs" were scattered along their path, which were supposed to crash into the hooves of animals where they are not protected by a horseshoe. This method of defense, if it did not completely stop the ram attack, then significantly impeded its further development, giving time to destroy the assault squad.
Visions
Another type of ancient tools was called "vices". Wall-beating weapons, in the traditional sense, are something similar to a ram, but the flaws had nothing to do with its design. This was the name of the special throwing machines.
In Russia, two types of vices were used - lever-slings, which are mentioned in the annals as slings, and crossbows - tools mounted on a special machine.
Sling-vices
The design of the sling was a support pillar on which a swivel (a mount for a lever that could be rotated) and the long, unequal lever itself was fixed.
A sling (a belt with a pocket for a projectile) was attached to the long end of the lever, and ropes were attached to the other end, for which people specially trained for this had to pull - tension. That is, a stone (core) was loaded into the pocket of the sling, and the tension ones sharply pulled the belts. The lever, flying up, launched the projectile in the right direction. The fact that the swivel with a lever could rotate made it possible to conduct almost circular fire without moving the entire structure.
Later, the tension belts were replaced by a counterweight, and the supporting column was replaced by a more complex frame.
Such a weapon was much more powerful than tension throwing machines. Often the counterweight was made movable, which made it possible to adjust the firing range. In Europe, a similar tool was called "trebuchet"
Crossbows-vices
The design of the easel self-firing stone thrower was fundamentally different from the slings. Outwardly, it is very similar to a large crossbow, that is, a chute was fixed on a wooden base, and a bow was attached to its front part.
The principle of shooting was also similar to that of a crossbow, but instead of an arrow, a stone (core) was placed in the chute. In order for the bow to withstand heavy loads, it was made from several layers of wood, combining different types of wood. In addition, he was pasted over with birch bark and wrapped with straps. The string was made from animal sinew or strong hemp rope.
Combat support of vices
Since the throwing machines were installed at a distance of no closer than 100 m to the enemy fortifications, they became practically inaccessible to enemy archers. However, to protect the shooters operating the gun, the vices were fenced with a palisade (tyn) and dug around with a moat.
Almost anything could be used as projectiles for vice-slings, weighing from 3 to 200 kg: stones, pots filled with a combustible mixture, even animal corpses. That is, there were no problems with ammunition.
With crossbows, things were more complicated. For them, processed stonekernels, 20-35 cm in diameter. During archaeological excavations, arrows (bolts) were also found, which, apparently, were also used for shooting. The bolt was a metal rod with a metal plumage, weighing about 2 kg and 170 cm long. There is an assumption that such arrows were used for arson, that is, they carried a flammable composition with them when fired.
Both types of guns were used together, complementing each other, thanks to which the effectiveness of the attack increased significantly. Often, it was the presence of such formidable weapons that predetermined the outcome of the entire battle.
