Siege engine

“ We must not leave our siege-engines for the enemy to use against us, but rather set fire to them and then retreat in good order." At once then the soldiers did as he ordered with a very good will, and burnt not only the siege-engines but also their boats on the river Buses to prevent the Franks finding easy means of crossing it. ”

“ From Sicily siege engines found their way some years later into Greece; they were used by Philip of Macedon at the siege of Byzantium in 340, and thereafter, as a natural consequence of the regularizing or professionalizing of armies, artillery, as we may call it, came into prominence and called into existence technical corps to work it.
The war engines of the Romans, during the republic and early principate, are of the same type as those of Alexander’s successors in Greece. They are usually classed as (a) catapults and (b) ballistae (λιθοβόλοι) . ”

“ I shall not, however, absolutely depend upon the success of it, having much more effectual ones in reserve. And yet great engines are often moved by small springs. A little spark falling by accident into a powder-magazine, hath done more execution in a siege, than an hundred cannon. ”

“ First Artillery Position.—Every siege begins with a bombardment, which is designed, as previously stated, to drive in the outlying posts of the defence, to silence, so far as possible, the artillery annoy and wear out the garrisons of the works to be attacked, to interrupt the communications between them, break up bomb and splinter proofs, destroy magazines and depots, and, if the enceinte can be reached by the artillery, to bring a fire upon the population which will lead to or hasten the surrender of the place. ”

“ Their machines were loaded up with fresh supplies of bombs just as quickly as it could be done, the petrol and oil tanks refilled, expended rounds of ammunition for the machine-guns replaced. Then, one after another, the machines steered out into the darkness across the ’drome ground towards a twinkle of light placed to guide them, wheeled round, gave the engine a preliminary whirl, steadied it down, opened her out again, and one by one at intervals lumbered off at gathering speed, and soared off up into the darkness. ”

“ All guns and howitzers of greater bore, up to the giant 15-inch, were known as Heavy and Siege Artillery.
Regarded from the point of view of mobility, all field guns and that wonderfully useful weapon, the 60-pounder, were horse-drawn, the larger ordnance were tractor-drawn, and the very largest were mounted on railway trains and hauled by steam locomotive.
Finally, as regards tactical utilization, some natures of ordnance were invariably employed for barrage or harassing fire, others for bombardment, others for counter-battery fighting, and yet others for anti-aircraft purposes. ”

“ The use of machine guns in the siege of a fortress will cover a far wider field than in the defence, and much that has already been written of their employment both in the attack and defence, of positions will apply to the attack on a fortress. It cannot be claimed for machine guns that they are as vital to the success of the besiegers as they are to the garrison, but that they often afford material assistance during assaults, in holding sap-heads and repelling sorties, cannot be denied. ”

“ The introduction of modern breech-loading rifled guns, howitzers and mortars, rapid-fire and machine guns, and magazine small arms has brought with it the need of a higher grade of mechanical skill and improved machinery for making the ordinary repairs. This imposes upon both attack and defence the necessity for providing machine shops and tools fitted for work of this kind, with the steam power required to drive them. ”

“ If a place be not countermined before hand, a great deal may be done, even after the investment of the place, to prolong the siege by countermines. In this case, the first thing to be done immediately that the place is invested, to sink a shaft in each of [Pg 198] the places of arms of the covert way; one in each branch of the covert way, opposite that part of the bastion where the breach will most probably be made; and one in the flanked angle of each bastion. Those on the covert way will be on the banquette, and sunk to about 18 inches below the bottom of the ditch. ”

“ As the advanced positions may be subject to the fire of the heaviest class of siege-guns, if any parapet is made it should be of the nature of a glacis of gentle slope and little command. Infantry trenches should be made narrow and deep as a protection against shells and shrapnel (Pl. IX, Fig. 84) , and gun-emplacements should be as small as practicable and almost entirely in excavation, for the same reason. Positions so prepared suffer very little from gun-fire, and will frequently require attack by systematic approaches. ”

“ The long-range bombardments would tend to keep the enemy's larger batteries occupied in expending ammunition in their endeavour to locate and silence our guns. Subsidiary attacks, carried out by fast motor craft against the Mole, and against German vessels berthed at its inner side, were calculated to confuse the situation as far as the enemy were concerned. It was arranged that the R.M.A. siege guns on the northern flank of the Allied army should bombard for the purpose of simulating a prelude to a land attack. ”

“ The excellence of the British artillery is well known. Nothing could surpass the precision with which the shells were thrown or the accuracy with which the fuses were cut. During the siege our men in the British trenches little heeded the lazy French shells which were thrown into our batteries. From the length of the fuses sufficient time was often allowed before they burst to put themselves under cover; and when they did burst, the splinters flew lazily around. But when the sound of an English shell was heard in the castle, or when the men stationed in the donjon cried, “Garde la bombe!” ”

“ Sandbags should always be carried with machine guns supporting infantry in the assault, and the first consideration should be to secure the guns from fire on reaching a position. It must be remembered that machine guns in siege operations are always exposed to their worst enemy—artillery—and that their only hope of success is by concealment and cover. An example of their use in repulsing a counter-attack at Port Arthur is given by Nojine in his book The Truth about Port Arthur. ”

“ Bringing up and Posting the Besieging Force.—The main besieging force, consisting principally of infantry, artillery, and engineers, with the siege train, follows closely after the investing force, and, upon arrival is encamped upon sites previously selected, sending out at once, however, such reinforcements and supports as are needed by the line of investment. Engineer and artillery parks are established outside the zone of fire of the works and in proximity to the main routes of communication. ”

“ We hear the voices of cannon of all calibres and at all distances. We learn to read the score & distinguish the instruments. Near us are field batteries; far away are siege guns. Over all there is the unmistakable, sharp, metallic twang of the French 75, the whistle of its shell and the lesser report of its explosion. ”

“ These portable and easily laid field railways twist and turn and coil like snakes among the gun positions, the miniature engines, with their strings of toy cars, puffing their way into the heart of the artillery zone, where the ammunition is unloaded, sorted, and classified in calibers, and then artfully hidden from the prying eyes of enemy aviators and from their bombs. ”

“ During this period of the siege, the embrazures must be prepared in the flanks, in the curtain which joins them, and in the faces of the bastions which flank the ditch of the front ravelins. These embrazures must be all ready to open, and the heavy artillery mounted in them, the moment the enemy attempts a lodgement on the glacis.
Every effort should be made to take advantage of this favorable moment, when the enemy, by their own works, must mask their former batteries, and before they are able to open their new ones. ”

“ Engines for hurling stones or javelins increased in size and strength. Devices were brought into play for scaling or undermining the defences of the town or castle. The attack was directed against the defences rather than against the defenders. A casual stone might do injury to the medieval soldier, or an arrow might pierce between the joints of his harness; but his armour, which became more heavy and more carefully protected as the chance of risk from such missiles increased, made loss of life in the course of a siege a misfortune rather than an inevitable59 contingency. ”

“ The alleys of communication constructed to facilitate the firing, which were in many cases protected by wirework, make possible, according to the German method, a splitting up of the terrain by lateral fire and the maintenance, even after the tide of the assailants had flooded the trenches, of centres of resistance, veritable strongholds that could only be reduced after a siege. The positions of the artillery were established, as were also the camps and provision depots, behind the first position, the principal line of defence. ”

“ A similar construction may sometimes be used during the siege when the artillery fire of the place is weakened, and it is desirable to place a field battery in position for reaching some point in the work. ”

“ Loading technique varied with the gun, but the following summary of drill from the United States Heavy Ordnance Manual of 1861 gives a fair idea of how the crew handled a siege gun:
In the first place, consider that the equipment is all in its proper place. The gun is on a two-wheeled siege carriage, and is "in battery," or pushed forward on the platform until the muzzle is in the earthwork embrasure. On each side of the gun are three handspikes, leaning against the parapet. On the right of the gun a sponge and a rammer are laid on a prop, about 6 feet away from the carriage. ”

“ The trenches connecting the detached and intermediate works will be strengthened, and counter-approaches will when practicable be driven out to afford positions for enfilading the approaches. The field and machine guns will be held in constant readiness for use, and will be brought into action at every favorable opportunity; but will be withdrawn and placed under cover previously prepared so soon as the fire upon them becomes too severe to be endured. ”

“ He envisaged waves of armoured skirmishers attacking in open order, each man possessing besides his armour a quick-firing weapon with which he could shoot as he advanced.
Now, armour which will protect from machine-gun and rifle fire is too heavy for human legs. The armour must be independently propelled. More, if its occupant is to fire as he advances, it must carry him as well as itself. This postulates an engine, and if there is an engine, there must be a second man to look after it. ”

“ Contrary to the predictions of many critics, air and artillery were decisive and more than made up for the numerical superiority of the enemy. Over 100,000 tons of bombs and 150,000 artillery rounds were delivered--and delivered intelligently--by the Americans during the siege. Much of the credit goes to the regimental commander and his staff who knew how to coordinate their different sources of firepower to achieve maximum results. The NVA learned this during the147 five major attacks against the base and hill outposts. ”

“ What I have written of the trenches above will suffice to show, I think, that only the methods of siege warfare—that is, heavy guns and mines—can be used against them with any hope of success. High-explosive shells in unlimited quantities are necessary to keep the hammer pounding away at one given spot. To break a path for our infantry through the weakly held German trenches round Neuve Chapelle we had many scores of guns pouring in a concentrated fire on a front of 1,400 yards for a period of thirty-five minutes. ”

“ Every material for carrying on a siege—guns, carriages, platforms, powder, shot, shell, gabions, fascines, scaling-ladders—we had in abundance. The artillery force was highly efficient, notwithstanding the large proportion of young gunners. Our engineers, if not quite so numerous as they ought to have been, were active and energetic; and our army must have consisted of nearly 20,000 bayonets, owing to the great number of men discharged from the hospitals, and returned fit for duty, and to the draughts which had been received. ”

“ The shortening and strengthening of the line of investment by closing it in upon the work make it imperative to hold all ground gained; and this is generally best accomplished by intrenching the line of outposts with continuous shelter trenches, strengthened at intervals by batteries of field guns, and supported by field works of considerable strength, placed within accurate cannon range of each other, but not exposed to the direct fire of the guns of the place. ”

“ In the meantime other engines, which had been used at the siege of Tyre, arriving by sea, he ordered the rampart to be run quite round the city, two stadia in breadth, and 250 feet in height. The engines then being prepared, and planted thereupon, the wall was vehemently shaken, and the miners in many places, working privately underneath the foundations thereof and conveying the rubbish away, it fell down. The besiegers then plying the citizens with their darts, beat them out of their towers; yet thrice they sustained the Macedonian shocks, with the loss of abundance, slain and wounded. ”

“ The 5th February, 1915, closed with the heavy booming of siege artillery used as field-pieces. What the artillery of the future will be we may foresee from the experiences of the present war. It will be limited in the size of the guns only by the endurance of the pieces, and the power of man to move them. ”