Per the request of my long time reader Yevon, and also due to my recent interest
in
Overview
The art of siegecraft in the pre-modern era was incredibly sophisticated and complex, often involving
meticulous planning on logistics, morale, tactics, intelligence, diplomancy,
and so on. However, when it came to taking direct action against a
fortification, the options were surprisingly few. The vast majority of siege
tactics all over the pre-modern world generally revolved around
contravallation, artillery bombardment, tunnelling and sapping, escalade,
siege tower, battering ram as well as
thermal attack, and China was no exception. As such,
Chinese countermeasures to most siege tactics were more or less identical to strategies developed elsewhere.
What set them apart from other cultures was that
larger Chinese walls allowed the defenders to set up heavier and more complex machinery on
the battlement, even moving their own siege engines onto the wall to
counter enemy siege engines, without the need of artillery positions prebuilt
into the wall.
1. Contravallation countermeasure
Contravallation, known as
Ju Yin (距堙 or 距闉) and
Chang Wei (長圍, lit.
'Long encirclement') in Chinese language, was a tactic used by pretty much all
pre-modern armies to lay siege to a fortified position by constructing a line
of siegeworks to partially or completely surround the target fortification.
Contravallation allowed the attacking party to enforce blockade more
effectively, reconnoitre enemy defensive layout from a high position, and even
pour suppressive fire against defending troops on the wall. It could also
serve as a base for launching assaults against enemy fortification, or for
constructing further earthworks such as siege ramps or tunnels. Chinese
contravallation tactics range from simple
Jin Lang (井闌)
towers built atop artificial mounds and ditches, to more elaborate palisades
and fortified arrow towers, to full-blown encirclement with networked siege
castles.
1.1 Sortie
Due to the limitations of pre-gunpowder siege weapons (stone throwers had
limited range and generally could not demolish fortified structures faster than
they could be repaired/rebuilt), it was extremely difficult to stop a
contravallation attempt once the construction process began. As such, the
best countermeasure to enemy contravallation was to sortie out to destroy
enemy fortifications, siege engines and earthworks before their completion,
preferably with armed escorts and covering fire from friendly troops on the
wall. While undoubtedly effective, this tactic was not without downsides, as
it was extremely risky and wasn't always viable against numerically superior
enemy.
1.2 Counter-tunnel
Just as tunnelling could be used to bring down a fortification, so too it was
an effective countermeasure against contravallation. Countermining tactics
will be discussed in section
3.2 Countermining.
1.3 Tower hoarding
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Multi-storey hoarding built on the wall to offset the height advantage
of enemy contravallation.
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