The siege is a military action.
The act and consequence of besieging is called a siege . This verb, for its part, refers to insistently pressing or enclosing or surrounding a certain place to harm in some way those who are there.
Siege , then, is the name given to the military action that consists of blocking a fortress or city for an extended period and then proceeding to assault it. The siege prevents supplies , causing wear and tear on people.
The military siege
Suppose that a military force X intends to conquer a city Y. The enemy side takes refuge in this town, ready to resist the advance. Military force Days later, in the city there is a shortage of food , medicine and other essential goods. Military force X , seeing its enemy weakened, proceeds to carry out the assault.
It is often said that a military siege can generate four situations. When the attackers manage to enter the city and capture or eliminate the defenders, the fall of the besieged place occurs. If the attackers enter but the defenders flee, the city is evacuated . In the event that the defenders manage to resist the siege without outside help, the city retains its position . Finally, when the defenders are successful with external support, they are able to lift the siege.
This action by an army arises as a result of not being able to get the opposing side to surrender. When a situation of this type, which usually generates a loss of time and resources, is combined with the difficulty of taking the fortress or city through a frontal assault, the siege seems to be the most effective decision.
Siege weapons were formerly used to overcome and demolish walls.
The importance of weapons
To weaken the enemy through this tactic, it is usually necessary to surround the terrain and use the so-called siege weapons to block the supply lines.
Siege weapons , also known as siege machinery , are those that in ancient times served to overcome or demolish walls, fortresses, forts and castles effectively in the context of a siege. Its use not only saved time, but also increased the chances of success. Its creation aimed to overcome every obstacle that stood between the attacking army and the attacked one.
The list of siege weapons is extensive, and the oldest on the European continent is the battering ram , thanks to which it was possible to destroy fortified walls and gates. Its most rudimentary form is a simple log of great size and weight, which many people had to carry and propel it against the objective. However, throughout history designs of varying complexity appeared that included wheels and a roof to protect the ram from fire attacks.
The siege throughout history
In Ancient Greece, the catapult appeared, another of the siege weapons that has transcended and today is part of countless works of fiction. Thanks to its design, the catapult was used to launch large and heavy objects against enemy buildings. The Carthaginians and Romans made numerous improvements to it, and it was widely used during the Middle Ages .
Regarding the siege, in Europe it was one of the fundamental resources of war throughout the Renaissance and the Modern Age . In fact, Leonardo da Vinci himself designed many fortifications that earned him much of his recognition.
“The siege” , finally, is the title of a novel written by the Spanish Arturo Pérez-Reverte . The book was published in 2010 .