As soon as walls began to be erected to protect against enemy attacks around ancient cities, 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.
The appearance of a wall gun
It is believed that the first stenobitnoy gun invented by the Carthaginian masters - Paferasman and Geras. It happened in about 500 BC. e., and it was used by the Carthaginians during the siege of Gadis (Cadiz), a city in Spain. So is it or not, whether these masters were the first inventors of the ram, no one will say for sure. But chroniclers of those times, describing the Carthaginian sieges, mentioned that along with other siege machines, a wall-mounted gun was also used.
First guns
The ancient stenobit tool for breaking the gates or walls, later called a battering ram, was an ordinary log of ash or spruce. As such, the gun was very heavy, and given the fact that it was necessary to carry it on hand, sometimes up to hundreds of soldiers had to be used for its operation.
All this was extremely wasteful in terms of human resources and very inconvenient, therefore, further improvement began. A wall-hung tool - a ram - was initially hung on a special frame, and then mounted on wheels. Using it in this form was much easier. Now, in order to deliver the gun to the place and swing it for an attack, much fewer people were required.
For more effective work, a metal tip was attached to the log end, which looked like a ram’s head. Because of this, a combat log was often called “a ram." Most likely, in the oldest saying: “it looks like a ram at a new gate”, it was a ram, and not a real animal.
But the improvements did not end there. The fact is that during an attack from the walls of the city on the heads of the soldiers controlling the ram, stones, arrows flew, boiling water and hot tar poured. Therefore, in order to protect the warriors, the frame with the log was closed with a canopy on top, and later covered with shields on all sides. Thus, the assault detachment swinging the wall-hung gun turned out to be at least somehow protected from the misfortunes falling and pouring from the walls. Such an indoor battering ram began to be called a “tortoise” for its external similarity with the famous reptile.
Sometimes the turtle was a structure consisting of several floors, each of which had its own ram. Thus, it became possible to break through the wall at one time at different levels.
But such a tool was, for obvious reasons, very bulky and heavy, so it was used infrequently.
Falcon - an old military wall gun
When the ram first appeared in Russia, it is not known for certain, but already 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, the attackers first began to use a falcon, a ram-type ramming weapon.
In fact, the falcon was no different in design from its known counterparts. The same smooth bare log suspended from chains or ropes. True, sometimes a tree replaced an all-metal cylinder. By the way, according to one version, the statement “goal like a falcon” came precisely from associations with the appearance of the Russian gun.
Ways to counter ram
The wall-gun was, of course, a very effective means of assault, therefore, counter-tactics were also developed against its use:
- In order to somehow soften the blows of the log, a bag full of soft material, wool or chaff was lowered from the walls to the level of its head.
- Sewage, boiling water, burning tar, oil poured on the heads of the assault squad accompanying the ram, stones and arrows flew. The besieged tried to set fire to the wooden structure of the gun.
- On the approaches to the city walls ditches were dug up and filled with water, a drawbridge was thrown over the moat, which arose during the attack. Such measures did not allow the “falcon” to be rolled up to the walls.
- If it turned out that the ram would be delivered to the walls of the city by horses, then sharply sharpened metal "hedgehogs" were scattered on their way, which were supposed to crash into the hooves of animals where they were not protected by a horseshoe. This method of defense, if it did not completely stop the attack with a battering ram, then significantly impeded its further development, giving time for the destruction of the assault squad.
Vices
Another type of ancient tools was called "vices." Wall-hung tools, in the traditional sense, are something like a ram, but the flaws with its design had nothing to do. So called special throwing machines.
In Russia, two types of defects were used - lever-sling, which are mentioned in the annals as slings, and self-arrows - guns installed on a special machine.
Slings
The sling design was a support post on which the swivel was fixed (a mount for the lever that could be rotated) and the long, unequal arm itself.
A sling was attached to the long end of the lever (a belt with a pocket for the projectile), and to the other end there were ropes, for which people specially trained for this should pull - tension. That is, a stone (core) was charged into the sling pocket, and the tension pulled sharply on the belts. The lever, flying up, launched a shell in the right direction. The fact that the swivel with the lever could rotate made it possible to conduct almost circular shelling, while not moving the entire structure.
Later, tension belts were replaced with a counterweight, and the support column was replaced by a more complicated frame in design.
Such a tool 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, such a tool was called "trebuche"
Self-arrows-vices
The design of the easel self-shooting stone thrower was fundamentally different from the sling. Outwardly, it is very similar to a large crossbow, that is, a gutter was fixed on a wooden base, and a bow was attached in front of it.
The principle of shooting was also similar to a crossbow, but instead of an arrow, a stone (core) was placed in the gutter. In order for the onion to withstand heavy loads, it was made of several layers of wood, combining various types of wood. In addition, he was pasted over with birch bark and wrapped with belts. The bowstring was made of animal veins or strong hemp rope.
Combat Support of Vices
Since throwing machines were installed at a distance 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 picket fence (tyn) and dug around by a moat.
As shells for slings, almost anything could weigh from 3 to 200 kg: stones, pots seasoned with a combustible mixture, even animal corpses. That is, there were no problems with ammunition.
With guns, things were more complicated. For them, processed stone cores measuring 20-35 cm in diameter were used. During archaeological excavations, arrows (bolts) were also found, which, apparently, were also used for shooting. The bolt was a metal rod with metal plumage, weighing about 2 kg and a length of 170 cm. There is an assumption that such arrows were used for arson, that is, when fired, they carried a flammable composition.
Both types of guns were used together, complementing each other, due 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.