You write about the baron in the castle - if you please, at least roughly imagine how the castle was heated, how it was ventilated, how it was lit ...
From an interview with G. L. Oldie

At the word "castle" in our imagination there is an image of a majestic fortress - the calling card of the fantasy genre. There is hardly any other architectural structure that would attract so much attention from historians, experts in military affairs, tourists, writers and fans of “fabulous” fantasy.

We play computer, board and role-playing games where we have to explore, build or capture impregnable castles. But do we know what these fortifications really are? What interesting stories are associated with them? What are the stone walls hiding behind them - witnesses of entire eras, grandiose battles, knightly nobility and vile betrayal?

Surprisingly, it is a fact - the fortified dwellings of feudal lords in different parts of the world (Japan, Asia, Europe) were built according to very similar principles and had many common design features. But in this article, we will focus primarily on medieval European feudal fortresses, since it was they that served as the basis for creating a mass artistic image of the “medieval castle” as a whole.

The birth of a fortress

The Middle Ages in Europe was a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern terms, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, they had to be taken away. Lots of land and peasants? It's just indecent, because God ordered to share. And if knightly honor is hurt, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.

Under such circumstances, the large aristocratic landowners had no choice but to strengthen their dwellings with the expectation that one fine day their neighbors might come to visit them, whom you don’t feed with bread - let someone slaughter.

Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles known to us in any way - except that a moat was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was erected around the house.

The lordly courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of castles.

However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.

The European castle has its roots in the era of antiquity. The earliest structures of this kind copied the Roman military camps (tents surrounded by a palisade). It is generally accepted that the tradition of building gigantic (by the standards of that time) stone structures began with the Normans, and classical castles appeared in the 12th century.

The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).

Very simple requirements were imposed on the castle - it must be inaccessible to the enemy, provide observation of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own water source (in case of a siege) and perform representative functions - that is, show the power, wealth of the feudal lord.

Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.

Welcome

We are on our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, on the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Common people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of protection (in particular, guarding our road). This is the so-called "castle people".

Scheme of castle structures. Note - two gate towers, the largest stands separately.

The road is laid in such a way that the aliens always face the castle with their right side, not covered by a shield. Directly in front of the fortress wall there is a bare plateau, lying under a significant slope (the castle itself stands on a hill - natural or bulk). The vegetation here is low, so that there is no shelter for the attackers.

The first barrier is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a rampart of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau), or sickle-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, the moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.

Sometimes dividing ditches were dug inside the castle, making it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory.

The shape of the bottom of the ditches could be V-shaped and U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, which only hindered the advancement of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore, the depth of the moat was not decisive).

The crest of an earthen rampart lying directly in front of the moat (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.

A bridge over the moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the moat and bridge, the latter supports one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but its last segment (right next to the wall) is movable.

Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - lattice.

Counterweights on the gate lift.

Castle gate.

This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it closes the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall holes. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights that took part of the weight of this structure onto themselves.

Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “overturning” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, closing the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell down into the moat, where the so-called “wolf pit” was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, until the bridge is down.

To enter the castle with the gates closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lifting ladder was usually laid.

Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were usually made not directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were upholstered with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the wings there was a small narrow door, which could be entered only by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The transverse beam could also be wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from their landing attackers.

Behind the gate was usually a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the vault of the gate portal, or be behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along the grooves in the walls.

The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for the invaders.

Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests for the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could hit all those who passed under them with a bow. For this purpose, there were vertical loopholes in the vault of the gate portal, as well as “tar noses” - holes for pouring hot resin on the attackers.

Resin noses.

All on the wall!

The most important defensive element of the castle was the outer wall - high, thick, sometimes on an inclined plinth. Worked stones or bricks made up its outer surface. Inside, it consisted of rubble stone and slaked lime. The walls were placed on a deep foundation, under which it was very difficult to dig.

Often double walls were built in castles - a high outer and a small inner one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name “zwinger”. The attackers, overcoming the outer wall, could not take with them additional assault devices (bulky ladders, poles and other things that cannot be moved inside the fortress). Once in the zwinger in front of another wall, they became an easy target (there were small loopholes for archers in the walls of the zwinger).

Zwinger at Laneck Castle.

On top of the wall was a gallery for defense soldiers. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet, half the height of a man, on which stone battlements were regularly arranged. Behind them it was possible to stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely diverse - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a dovetail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.

In addition to the battlements, behind which it was convenient to hide, the walls of the castle were equipped with loopholes. The attackers were firing through them. Due to the peculiarities of the use of throwing weapons (freedom of movement and a certain shooting position), the loopholes for archers were long and narrow, and for crossbowmen - short, with expansion on the sides.

A special type of loophole - ball. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed in the wall with a slot for firing.

Pedestrian gallery on the wall.

Balconies (the so-called “mashikuli”) were arranged in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.

At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to adapt to storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the courtyard of the castle) were usually left open so that the enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.

Flanking corner tower.

The castle from the inside

The internal structure of the castles was diverse. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for the attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several "sections" separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, premises for servants) and a central tower, also known as a donjon.

Donjon at the Château de Vincennes.

The life of all the inhabitants of the castle directly depended on the presence and location of the well. Problems often arose with him - after all, as mentioned above, castles were built on hills. Solid rocky soil also did not make it easier to supply the fortress with water. There are known cases of laying castle wells to a depth of more than 100 meters (for example, the Kuffhäuser castle in Thuringia or the Königstein fortress in Saxony had wells more than 140 meters deep). Digging a well took from one to five years. In some cases, this consumed as much money as all the interior buildings of the castle were worth.

Due to the fact that water had to be obtained with difficulty from deep wells, personal hygiene and sanitation issues faded into the background. Instead of washing themselves, people preferred to take care of animals - first of all, expensive horses. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of the inhabitants of the castles.

The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during the siege. If, due to the peculiarities of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages to the castle).

When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed to be purified - it was filtered through gravel.

The combat garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the Reichelsberg castle in the Lower Franconian Aub entered into an agreement that each of them exposes one armed servant, and two gatekeepers and two guards are paid jointly.

The castle also had a number of buildings that ensured the autonomous life of its inhabitants in conditions of complete isolation (blockade): a bakery, a steam bath, a kitchen, etc.

Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.

The tower was the tallest structure in the entire castle. It provided the opportunity to observe the surroundings and served as a last refuge. When the enemies broke through all the lines of defense, the population of the castle took refuge in the donjon and withstood a long siege.

The exceptional thickness of the walls of this tower made its destruction almost impossible (in any case, it would take a huge amount of time). The entrance to the tower was very narrow. It was located in the courtyard at a significant (6-12 meters) height. The wooden staircase leading inside could easily be destroyed and thus block the way for the attackers.

Donjon entrance.

Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served as either a prison or a warehouse. The entrance to it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (in German - a frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.

If there were no prison facilities in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.

Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, for a ransom or for using a prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIP-persons were provided according to the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is how Friedrich the Handsome spent his time in the Trausnitz castle on Pfaimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.

Chamber at Marksburg Castle.

Abenberg castle tower (12th century) in section.

At the base of the tower there was a cellar, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it spread heat only a few meters, so that iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.

At the very top of the tower there was an open (rarely covered, but if necessary, the roof could be dropped) platform where a catapult or other throwing weapon could be installed to fire at the enemy. The standard (banner) of the owner of the castle was also hoisted there.

Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military and economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, provisions storage). In such cases, the feudal lord's family lived in the "palace" - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.

It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest carpets had a large knight's hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and carpets. Fireplace heating helped out, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to keep warm.

The windows let in very little sunlight (the fortification character of the castle architecture affected), not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with simply unique sensations.

Castle toilet.

Concluding our “tour” around the castle, one cannot fail to mention that it always had a room for worship (temple, chapel). Among the indispensable inhabitants of the castle was a chaplain or priest, who, in addition to his main duties, played the role of a clerk and teacher. In the most modest fortresses, the role of the temple was performed by a wall niche, where a small altar stood.

Large temples had two floors. The common people prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in the warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such premises was rather modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple played the role of a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less commonly, it was used as a shelter (along with a donjon).

Many tales are told about underground passages in castles. There were moves, of course. But only very few of them led from the castle somewhere into the neighboring forest and could be used as an escape route. As a rule, there were no long moves at all. Most often there were short tunnels between individual buildings, or from the donjon to the complex of caves under the castle (additional shelter, warehouse or treasury).

War on earth and underground

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the average strength of the military garrison of an ordinary castle during active hostilities rarely exceeded 30 people. This was quite enough for defense, since the inhabitants of the fortress were in relative safety behind its walls and did not suffer such losses as the attackers.

To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all the ways of supplying food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of mediocre feudal lords).

The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - for about a month (in this case, one should take into account his low combat capability during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of the castle, preparing for the siege, often went to extreme measures - they drove out of it all commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed the whole army under the siege.

The inhabitants of the castle infrequently launched counterattacks. This simply did not make sense - there were fewer of them than the attackers, and behind the walls they felt much calmer. Food outings are a special case. The latter were carried out, as a rule, at night, in small groups that walked along poorly guarded paths to the nearest villages.

The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes dragged on for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of logistical supply for an army of several hundred people was particularly acute.

In the case of the siege of Turant, the chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fouders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This is about 2.8 million liters. Either the scribe made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was over 1,000.

The most preferred season for taking the castle by starvation was summer - it rains less than in spring or autumn (in winter, the inhabitants of the castle could get water by melting the snow), the harvest has not yet ripened, and the old stocks have already run out.

The attackers tried to deprive the castle of a source of water (for example, they built dams on the river). In the most extreme cases, "biological weapons" were used - corpses were thrown into the water, which could provoke outbreaks of epidemics throughout the district. Those inhabitants of the castle who were taken prisoner were mutilated by the attackers and released. Those returned back, and became unwitting freeloaders. They might not have been accepted in the castle, but if they were the wives or children of the besieged, then the voice of the heart outweighed considerations of tactical expediency.

No less brutally treated the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, who tried to deliver supplies to the castle. In 1161, during the siege of Milan, Frederick Barbarossa ordered the hands of 25 citizens of Piacenza, who were trying to supply the enemy with provisions, to be cut off.

The besiegers set up a permanent camp near the castle. It also had some simple fortifications (palisades, earth ramparts) in case of a sudden sortie by the defenders of the fortress. For protracted sieges, a so-called “counter-castle” was erected next to the castle. Usually it was located higher than the besieged one, which made it possible to conduct effective observation of the besieged from its walls and, if the distance allowed, to fire at them from throwing guns.

View of the castle Eltz from the counter-castle Trutz-Eltz.

The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification was a serious obstacle for conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been successful, which, however, came at the cost of heavy casualties.

That is why a whole range of military measures was necessary for the successful capture of the castle (it was already mentioned above about the siege and starvation). Undermining was one of the most time-consuming, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the protection of the castle.

Undermining was done with two goals - to provide troops with direct access to the courtyard of the castle, or to destroy a section of its wall.

So, during the siege of Altwindstein Castle in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) People took advantage of the distracting maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and for 10 weeks made a long passage in solid rock to the southeastern part of the fortress .

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable foundation, then a tunnel broke through under its foundation, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel collapsed, the base of the foundation sagged, and the wall above this place crumbled into pieces.

Storming of the castle (miniature of the 14th century).

Later, with the advent of gunpowder weapons, bombs were planted in tunnels under the walls of castles. To neutralize the tunnel, the besieged sometimes dug counterdigs. Enemy sappers were poured with boiling water, bees were launched into the tunnel, feces were poured there (and in ancient times, the Carthaginians launched live crocodiles into Roman tunnels).

Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If the ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a mine was being dug nearby.

But the main argument in the attack on the castle were siege machines - catapults and battering rams. The first ones were not much different from those catapults that were used by the Romans. These devices were equipped with a counterweight, giving the throwing arm the greatest force. With proper dexterity of the “gun crew”, catapults were quite accurate weapons. They threw large, smoothly hewn stones, and the combat range (on average, several hundred meters) was regulated by the weight of the shells.

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

Sometimes barrels filled with combustible materials were loaded into catapults. To deliver a couple of pleasant minutes to the defenders of the castle, catapults threw the severed heads of captives to them (especially powerful machines could throw even whole corpses over the wall).

Assault the castle with a mobile tower.

In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and were a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, forcing the log to hit the wall.

In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were fixed. With this rope, they caught a ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gaping soldier could get caught on such hooks.

Having overcome the shaft, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle with the help of ladders, or used high wooden towers, the upper platform of which was on the same level with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle along the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.

Silent glanders

Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of extracting a moat, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Flip-flop (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. The work of the throwing glanders was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the flying glanders were carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a pre-prepared protective mound of barrels and bags of earth. In the second half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.

The expression to act "on the sly" means: sneak, slowly, imperceptibly go, penetrate somewhere.

Fights on the stairs of the castle

It was possible to get from one floor of the tower to another only through a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could only rely on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or a long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the fights on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. It was the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind their backs.

In all castles, the stairs are twisted clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the Wallenstein counts. When studying the history of this family, it turned out that most of the men in it were left-handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of the defenders. The strongest blow with the sword can be delivered towards your left shoulder, and the shield in your left hand covers the body best from this direction. All these advantages are available only to the defender. The attacker, on the other hand, can only strike to the right side, but his striking arm will be pressed against the wall. If he puts forward a shield, he will almost lose the ability to use weapons.

samurai castles

Himeji Castle.

We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.

Initially, the samurai and their overlords lived on their estates, where, apart from the watchtower “yagura” and a small moat around the dwelling, there were no other defensive structures. In case of a protracted war, fortifications were erected on hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where it was possible to defend against superior enemy forces.

Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese castle is wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it from all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, a lake, a swamp.

Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around the central square of the honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing upwards with protruding tiled roofs and gables.

Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of ​​170 hectares, and the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

The charm of antiquity

Castles are being built to this day. Those of them that were in state ownership are often returned to the descendants of ancient families. Castles are a symbol of the influence of their owners. They are an example of an ideal compositional solution that combines unity (defense considerations did not allow picturesque distribution of buildings across the territory), multi-level buildings (main and secondary) and the ultimate functionality of all components. Elements of the castle's architecture have already become archetypes - for example, a castle tower with battlements: its image sits in the subconscious of any more or less educated person.

Saumur French castle (14th century miniature).

And finally, we love castles because they are simply romantic. Knightly tournaments, ceremonial receptions, vile conspiracies, secret passages, ghosts, treasures - in relation to castles, all this ceases to be a legend and turns into history. Here, the expression “walls remember” fits perfectly: it seems that every stone of the castle breathes and hides a secret. I would like to believe that medieval castles will continue to retain an aura of mystery - because without it they will sooner or later turn into an old pile of stones.

During the defense, the architecture of the fortress played a decisive role. Location, walls, equipment - all this determined how successful the assault would be, and whether it was worth taking at all.

Athenian long walls

After the victory in the Greco-Persian wars, Athens began to flourish. To protect against an external enemy, a huge policy was covered by a fortress wall, which not only surrounded the city, but also protected the path to the main sea gate of Athens - the port of Piraeus. Built in a short time, the long walls stretched for six kilometers. Since in the 5th century BC Athens was supplied with bread from the colonies of the Northern Black Sea region, it was strategically important to maintain the possibility of supplying the huge city by sea. There was no external threat to Greece at that time, most of the Greek policies had much smaller armies than Athens, and the main probable enemy of the Athenians - the Spartans - were invincible in a field battle, but they did not know how to take fortresses. Therefore, Athens theoretically turned into an impregnable fortress, capable of withstanding many years of siege, with no prospects for the enemy to capture the city. In fact, it turned out that way - to defeat Athens, Sparta had to build a fleet, and only after the sea routes were blocked, Athens was forced to capitulate. Under the terms of the peace, the inhabitants of the city were forced to destroy the walls, which were subsequently restored and finally destroyed only in the Roman era.

Castle Krak des Chevaliers

In the Middle Ages, when small armies consisting of several tens, hundreds and extremely rarely thousands of people fought against each other, powerful stone walls surrounded by a moat were practically impregnable. Prolonged sieges, which required enormous exertion of forces, were also practiced extremely rarely. Only in cinema and a number of works of fiction can one find a dashing description of the assault on a medieval castle. In reality, this task is difficult and extremely complex. One of the most powerful fortresses of the Crusaders in the territory of modern Syria was the castle of Krak des Chevaliers. Through the efforts of the Order of the Hospitallers, a wall was erected with a thickness of 3 to 30 meters, reinforced with seven towers. In the 13th century, the castle had a garrison of up to 2000 people and a huge amount of supplies that made it possible to withstand a long siege. Krak des Chevaliers was virtually impregnable, repeatedly repulsing the onslaught of the enemy .. He was besieged more than once, but always unsuccessfully. Only in 1271 the fortress was taken, however, not by storm, but only with the help of military cunning.

San Elmo. Malta

By the middle of the 16th century, the stronghold of the Knights of Malta was an impressive fortress. It was surrounded by a system of fortress walls with bastions, and the batteries were able to cross fire, causing significant damage to the attackers. To destroy the fortress, it was necessary to bombard it systematically with artillery fire. The Maltese fleet was safely hidden in the inner bay behind the line of defenses of the city of Borgo. The narrow entrance to the bay was blocked by a massive chain. In 1565, when the Turks attempted to capture the fortress, the garrison consisted of 540 knights, 1,300 hired soldiers, 4,000 sailors and several hundred residents of Malta. The siege army of the Turks numbered up to 40 thousand people. During the fighting, the Turks, at the cost of colossal losses, managed to take Fort San Elmo, but later they had to abandon attempts to storm other fortifications of the fortress and lift the siege.

Shusha

The security of a fortress does not always depend on the massiveness of its walls and defensive structures. A favorable position can nullify any numerical superiority of the siege army. For example, as in the case of the Shusha fortress in Karabakh, which was defended by Russian troops in 1826. The citadel, erected almost on sheer cliffs, was virtually impregnable. The only way to the fortress was a winding path, which was perfectly shot from the fortress, and two guns installed along it could repulse any attempt to approach the gate with grapeshot. In 1826, Shusha withstood a 48-day siege by a 35,000-strong Persian army. Two assault attempts were repulsed with huge losses for the besiegers. The peculiarities of the position of the fortress did not allow the enemy to completely block the tiny fortress, which received food from the outside. It is noteworthy that during the siege the garrison of the fortress lost only 12 people killed and 16 missing.

Bobruisk fortress

By the beginning of the Patriotic War of 1812, the fortress of Bobruisk was considered new and one of the strongest on the western borders of the Russian Empire. The main defensive line of the fortress included 8 bastions. The four thousandth garrison was armed with 337 guns, huge stocks of gunpowder and food. The enemy could never be sure of the success of a frontal assault, and a long siege meant that the fortress was fulfilling its main role - to delay the enemy and gain time. In the Patriotic War of 1812, the Bobruisk fortress withstood many months of blockade, being in the deep rear of the Napoleonic army throughout the war. The 16,000-strong Polish detachment that carried out the siege, after several unsuccessful clashes, limited itself only to the blockade of the Bobruisk fortress, leaving attempts to storm.

trench cavalier- a siege building proposed by Vauban in 1684. K. t. was assimilated when the besiegers approached, in the middle of the latter, on the right and left, on the continuation. Consisted of high in 3 tiers. The parapet was adapted to rifle defense and made it possible to bombard the covered path with oblique fire and displace the defender from there. The prototype of the K. t. was used in ancient wars during sieges.

Caucasian fortification- the term appeared during the conquest of the Caucasus in the XIX century. and established itself, although not quite, in military engineering literature. It was understood as leading combat and technical data for the construction of fortifications in the Caucasus during the conquest of this region. caused by the mountainous nature of the Caucasus, the peculiarities of the slow and stubborn war with the highlanders and the nature of the tactics and weapons of the latter. K. f. was reduced to the construction of fortifications, consisting of residential buildings and high walls connecting them. adapted for defense. Particular attention was paid to the mutual flank defense of individual units. Inside the fortification, it was necessarily erected from stone defensive buildings.

Defensive barracks- barracks adapted for defense and safe from siege artillery fire. They were multi-storey (2 - 3 floors) stone or brick buildings with thick walls and vaults. artillery adapted for the action of them. They were arranged for 1 - 2 guns, which operated through large ones, covered with shields in peacetime. K. o. were built in all fortifications of independent importance, forming independent general and private and. Often they were placed in a gorge (). Sometimes the defensive barracks were multi-storey. With the advent of heavy siege artillery already at the end of the 19th century. have lost their meaning.

Casemated firing structures- long-term and field fortifications, built of reinforced concrete and mortared stone (in the latter case with a ceiling of iron beams) and providing protection against a whole projectile.

casemated buildings- cm. .

Casemated flanks- cm. .

Casemates- premises safe from heavy artillery fire and arranged in. The prototype of K. are rooms in the walls of fortresses of ancient times. The proposal in the literature of the first rational k. belongs to Albrecht Dürer in 1524. In practice, k. were erected in Russia much earlier and were called or stoves. K. are divided into defensive and protective. Defensive k. include gun and machine-gun rifle, settling in fortresses; protective - powder magazines, living quarters for people, shelters for guns and machine guns, etc.

Stone city (Kamen city)- the original name of the ancient Russian, built of stone.

Stone throwers (stone throwers)- an obstacle. They were arranged in the form of a pit, like an inclined truncated pyramid. with a propelling explosive charge of about 25 kg, covered with a wooden shield and covered with stone (about 1.5 - 2 m3). A land mine is disguised and explodes in an electric or fire way. For the first time K. were used by the Swedes during the siege of Kostnitsa in 1633.

Capital- an imaginary line dividing the outgoing and incoming angles in half. K. outgoing corners is of great importance, since in its direction in front of the top of the corner there is a so-called non-defensive or weakly defended sector that does not have frontal defense. At present, due to the presence of automatic long-range weapons, the weak side of the K. is significantly compensated by the possibility of creating a crossfire in front of the outgoing angle.

Caponier- flanking building, giving fire in two opposite directions. K. are casemated, armored and open; the last two types are used in , and the first - mainly in . In K. was understood a casemated defensive structure at the bottom of the fortress moat, adjacent to and designated for longitudinal shelling of the moat with cannon, machine-gun and rifle fire. For shelling approaches to neighboring ones, they were located in.

caponier system is a system consisting of a combination of .

caponier front- the former name of the fortress, which received the flank defense of the moat from, located in the middle of the polygon line along which the ditches went, and adjacent to.

castra- Roman fortified camp.

Castration(lat. castra - camp and metor - measure) - an old term that fell out of use in the 19th century. and denoting the art of choosing places for camps of troops to provide them with fortifications and barriers from enemy attacks. Initially, k. as a department of military art Appeared among the ancient Persians and Greeks, and reached a special development in ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, k. as a military art disappears, and camps are built in the most primitive way. In the 16th century, from the time of Gustavus Adolphus, this art revived again, and in the 19th century, with a change in the nature of armies and the art of war itself, it completely disappeared.

Catapult- a throwing machine of the ancient and middle ages, before the invention of firearms, it was used for mounted shooting. K. consisted of two frames - horizontal and vertical, firmly attached to the end of the first frame. At the base of the vertical frame was a bundle of twisted veins, into which a lever was inserted with a spoon at the top for the projectile. For throwing, the lever was pulled by a collar or rope to a horizontal position, and a stone was placed in a spoon. After lowering the lever, the latter with force, under the action of twisted wires, hit the crossbar of the vertical frame and threw the projectile. Large K. - - threw stones weighing 150 kg for 600 steps, small - blinds - stones up to 30 kg for 1200 steps. Small k. survived until the XIV - XV centuries. and at that time they were used on a par with the first firearms.

Cataract- a grate for closing the gates of the ancient and middle ages.

Roller armored turret- cm. .

Column barriers Totleben- cm. .

Cap- a monolithic or prefabricated element made of reinforced concrete or metal, fixedly installed on a wooden or stone base. Designed for fire weapons or surveillance and protects against shrapnel, bullets and mines. Depending on the material, K. are distinguished between reinforced concrete and metal (armored).

Barbed wire- a special type of wire used for the device. There are several types of K. p. - two-strand, single-strand, round and square section. In a single-strand, a piece of wire with pointed ends is wound onto a wire thread, in a double-strand, it is woven between two strands. The ends of these pieces are cut at an acute angle. K. p. appeared at the end of the 19th century. for agricultural needs - fences, hedges. During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. the Boers first used it as an obstacle; after them, the British began to use it. This wire was widely used in the Russo-Japanese War. It is currently one of the main anti-personnel obstacles.

Command post- the commander's location area with the main part of the headquarters and means of communication, from where he controls the battle or operation, is equipped in engineering terms to ensure the operation of command and control bodies and to protect against ground and air attacks.

Fortifications Command- the excess of their line of fire ( crest) above the local horizon or the crest of the parapet of another structure ahead. The term is rarely used today.

Counter requests- at first, they understood all the fortifications that were erected by the besieged (,, etc.) in addition to in order to counter the advance () of the enemy. K. a. as a means of active struggle, they contributed to the duration and persistence of the defense, to which the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55. is brilliant proof. At the end of the XIX century. under K. a. they began to understand the main image as wide, which were led towards the attacker. For the first time K. and. were used in 1592 by Villar during the defense of Rouen.

Counter-batteries- siege cannon batteries, arranged by the attacker at the fortress against the flanks to destroy the flank defense of the ditches.

Counter-valence line(Latin contra - against, vallare - to strengthen) - a continuous line of fortifications, erected in the ancient and Middle Ages by the besiegers to protect against attacks from the side and the breakthrough of the garrison from the fortress. The line of fortifications usually consisted of a solid ditch with a rampart and towers or towers located at a certain distance from each other.

Counter-guard(French contre-garde - to protect something from any attempts) - in the form of a shaft, armed with artillery and located in a ditch in front of the faces.

Counter-mine system- a set with connecting sleeves and branches located in front of separate fortifications or sections, for the defense of the nearest approaches to them with mines.

Kremlin- Old Russian, the internal fortification of Russian cities, built of stone with thick walls and towers, more often located than on the outer walls.

"Skeleton Fortresses"- cm. .

rampart- Earthworks. which, before the appearance, was surrounded by the whole, and after - the core of the fortress. Its purpose was to serve, together with the moat, as an obstacle for the attackers, to give superiority to the command of the fortress artillery over the enemy, the convenience of shelling the surrounding area and siege work of the enemy, and to cover the interior of the fortress from longitudinal fire. It consisted of, and a number of additional structures. It also bore the name of the main rampart - in the event that there were additional ramparts, like - a lowered rampart located in front.

Fortress polygon (fortress polygon)- a polygon along the sides of which are located. The sides of the polygon are called the polygon line; corners. formed by them, by the corners of the polygon, but by straight lines. dividing the corners in half, - the capitals of the corners of the polygon.

fortress front- a combination of long-term fortification faces () with independent flank defense of ditches. The fronts, depending on the nature of the flanking, are divided into bastion, tonal, polygonal (or caponier) and cremaler.

Fortress lattices- vertical in the form of iron bars made of rods up to 5 m high, installed on, and in ditches on a concrete foundation as an obstacle to the attackers.

Fortress- there are the following definitions of K. a) K. - a fortified position of a long-term nature, allowing you to defend a given strategic point with the smallest forces against superior enemy forces and equipped even in peacetime with everything necessary for its defense, stubborn and completely independent; b) K. - a harmonious combination of troops, command, weapons, supplies and long-term fortifications, always ready for battle. adapted for the independent defense of a given point of military importance by small forces against superior enemy forces until the end of the war; c) K. - a strategic point, fortified by means of long-term fortification and equipped with a permanent garrison, weapons, supplies, and administration.

K. as a fortification element of general measures to protect the territory and borders is known in ancient times. The pharaohs of ancient Egypt and the kings of Babylon built fortifications along the borders. The cairns consisted of high walls, sometimes in several rows, with high towers, which most corresponded to the siege art of that time. In the era of feudalism, k. as an element of the defense of the borders disappears, but the entire territory of the country is covered and. The revival of culture is entirely connected with the emergence of absolutist states that abolished feudal fragmentation.

The appearance of artillery changed the nature of the fortification of K.: the high walls and towers disappeared, and in their place earthen ramparts appeared, covering the low walls, which had a bastion, then a tonal and polygonal outline. However, K. were still confined to a small area of ​​the city, surrounded by a solid fence. Such types of cavalry corresponded both to the size of the armies of the 17th and 18th centuries and to the military art of that time.

The appearance of mass armies (the beginning of the 19th century) showed that these battlements did not correspond to the new principles of military art and the very size of the armies, which freely left them in their rear and assigned small detachments to besiege them. New conditions required a new form of K. This form was K., consisting of a core (old K.) and a belt of separate fortifications (), carried forward several kilometers, and received the name. The beginnings of fort k. first appeared in Russia under Peter I in Kronstadt. The new idea was theoretically substantiated by the French engineer Montalember at the end of the 18th century. In Russia, the word "fortress" appears for the first time in the 17th century, but only in the meaning of material means for strengthening fortified points, and in the 18th century. it is replaced by the name "fortified long-term point".

The development of artillery in the second half of the XIX century. - its range and destructiveness of action - forced to increase the diameter of K., build a second belt of fortifications and proceed to strengthen. Before the First World War 1914-18. K. were divided as follows: or maneuverable k., which served as a support for the maneuvering of the field army; small outposts or outposts - several separate forts that made up one group, the task of which was to cover only a given point from the capture by the enemy of a fort-outpost - a fort, which consisted of one fortification, the task of which was the same as for a fort. - outposts. but on secondary sectors of the war.

In addition, large fortresses had the following gradation: K. of normal location, when the radius of the fortress did not exceed 5 - 6 km; K. close location - with a smaller radius; K. wide location - with a larger radius, in which there were two belts of external fortifications - the inner one from the forts and the outer one from and.

World War 1914 - 18 showed that although the cavalry played a role to a certain extent, as an element of the fortification preparation of the borders, they no longer corresponded to massive, million-strong armies equipped with the most advanced military equipment, and they were replaced. However, the Great Patriotic War showed that closed forms of all-round defense of large areas under certain conditions can still find application, so the term K. with a modified content may reappear.

Outpost Fortress- cm. .

Fortress-camp- the name in the period when it was looked at as a refuge for a defeated army. After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 - 71, when the inconsistency of such an appointment became clear, the name of the mobile fortress appeared as a support for the action of the field army.

Fortress of normal location- cm. .

Close proximity fortress- cm. .

Fortress of wide location- cm. .

Krom- an ancient Russian term meaning the outer defensive fence of fortified cities.

parapet crown- a term used in the 18th and 19th centuries. and is now out of use. It meant the highest point or the line of intersection of the planes of the slope of the parapet and its internal slope. This line was also called the covering line, the top of the parapet, and the crest of the parapet.

kron-werk(German kronwerk - crown-shaped fortification) - external, which served to strengthen and consisted of one bastion and two semi-bastions on the sides, giving it the appearance of a crown. whence the name. It was first used in Holland during the War of Independence in the 16th - 17th centuries, when the haste of building fortifications, in the absence of stone, made it necessary to compensate for the lack of strength of buildings by their number, and therefore by the depth of defense.

covered sap- acceptance of work according to a passage or, in which a covering is immediately made of boards, wattle fences, etc. over the open area, and thus a covered passage is formed behind the workers. It was first used by the Spaniards during the siege of Haarlem in 1572.

Destroyer Hook- the destructive machine of the ancients. It was a long wooden beam with an iron hook attached to one end, which was suspended on ropes from a high narrow frame mounted on a wagon. It was used to tear the teeth and other covers from the walls.

Couvre-fas(French couvrir - cover, face - face) - a building in the middle of the moat in the form of a long narrow fortification, covering the fronts from destruction by enemy artillery, hence the name.

curtain(Italian curitne - curtain) - a section of a fortress fence between two adjacent or between two towers.

Ditch- a deep ditch in the middle of the bottom of dry fortress ditches for water drainage, up to 4-6 m wide and up to 2 m deep. It was usually filled with water and served as an additional barrier to the attacker. It is also called a kunet.

Notes:

Abshnite(German Abschnitt - segment) - an auxiliary fortress in the form of a rampart with a moat in front, which made it possible to continue the defense after that. how the enemy occupied the main shaft (see), and fire at the inside of the latter. The term "abshnite" appeared in our country in the 18th century. and did not last long; has been replaced by the term .

Acropolis(Greek acros - upper and polis - city) - an internal fortification in ancient Greek cities, usually located in an elevated part of the city. Played a role.

active flooding- cm. .

Albanian stone thrower- anti-assault infantry, used in defense in mountainous conditions and consisting of stones laid on a steep and held on it by logs parallel to the parapet. To bring A. to. into action, the rope or rope holding the logs was chopped off - the stones rolled down and crushed the attacker.

Ambarcation point(French embarcation - transportable and other small sea vessels) - a section of the sea coast occupied and fortified by the landing force in order to facilitate and ensure the arriving expeditionary force landing on the enemy coast and its further advance into the country, and in case of failure - to cover its retreat and return landing on ships. Currently, it is called landings and not entirely successfully - a bridgehead or fortification (see).

Embrasure(French embrasure - a loophole, a window opening in the wall, expanding into the room) - a horizontal cut in or wall of a fortification of such a size and shape that the muzzle of a gun or other fire weapon could enter it. turn to the sides and, if necessary, lower and rise to the required angles. It has the appearance of a truncated pyramid, usually facing outward with a wide base. The lower surface of A. is called, the side surfaces are called the cheeks of A. The part of the embankment or wall below A., between its sole and the horizon of the position of the tool, is called the chair A. The narrowest part of A. is called the neck of A. See also.

Loop barrier- a device for protecting the gun crew from enemy rifle fire directed at, and for masking the latter.

Anvelope(French enveloppe - wrapper) - external in, used in the era of smoothbore artillery to cover dry scarp walls (see) and the main shaft (see) from destruction by enemy artillery fire from. The fortress was located directly behind and surrounded by a continuous line one or more fronts of the fortress fence. In front of A., an outer ditch was arranged of the same depth as the ditch of the main rampart, but of a smaller width and with its longitudinal defense. A. received special development in the XVII and XVIII centuries.

Anchor(French ancre - anchor) - a device for keeping the clothes of embankments from collapsing under the influence of earth pressure. It consists of a pointed stake about 1 m long () and guy lines made of rope, wire or two intertwined. The guy with one end is captured by the clothes stake, and with the other it is tightly attracted to the anchor stake, firmly driven behind the line of repose of the given soil, usually at a distance of at least 1.5 depths of the dressing pit.

Ensemble(French ensemble - together) - large groups connected together by one tactical task and a single fortification solution. Erected on the northeastern borders of France (on the "Maginot lime"). A., each occupying an area of ​​\u200b\u200babout 1 km 2, were equipped with firing structures such as reinforced concrete gun and machine-gun and, armored machine-gun and gun mounts and armored observation posts interconnected by deeply embedded underground communications and surrounded by and. Barracks for the A. garrison, a command post, a power station, warehouses, etc. were erected deep underground. A. were created at operationally decisive points and were supposed to have great firepower. The Maginot Line was bypassed by the Germans in 1940 and therefore was not fully tested in combat conditions.

enfilade fire(French enfilade - cannon volley along the ship) - firing in the direction of the faces of the fortification in order to knock out guns located nearby. Represents the development of Vauban's ricochet fire. With the introduction of and for guns, it turned into throw-over shooting with the aim of guns. This term is not currently used.

Anfiling- application.

Ramp(French apparelle - entry) - a gentle earthen mound for communication and for pulling guns onto high embankments, used instead of stairs. A. is also called gentle descents into various ditches, trenches, shelters, etc.

Aproshi(French approcher - approach) - wide, erected by attackers at the fortress to move forward and for safe communication between. For for. shields from longitudinal fire from the fortress of A. were carried out in zigzags. moreover, in the places of turns, each knee somewhat went behind the one lying behind, forming dead ends or inversions. Work on the construction of the airport was carried out mainly at night or on a swing basis. For the first time A. were used by the British in the Hundred Years War in 1418 during the siege of Rouen and by the French in 1420 during the siege of Melun. Russian name A. -.

Arcobalista (toxobalista)(lat. arcus - arc, ballo - to throw) - of the ancient and middle ages, in its design reminiscent of large crossbows. A long bow, reaching up to 3.5 m, wooden or iron, was attached to a frame located on a pair of wheels of large diameter: the bowstring was stretched by a collar fixed on the frame. Shooting was carried out with ordinary arrows and stone or lead balls. Moved along with the troops.

Artillery shaft- cm. .

Artillery glacis- a glacis-shaped embankment (see), erected between the forts and adapted for placing fortress guns behind them in wartime, and at a certain distance from each other there were niches for shells and charges. It was proposed for the first time by Totleben on the basis of the experience of the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55.

artillery trench- a gun platform buried in the ground to a certain depth, surrounded by a low. It serves to protect against the defeat of the gun crew and the best camouflage of the gun. For pulling in and pulling out the gun, it is arranged behind; there is an open parapet in the parapet, and on the sides there are ditches for numbers and niches for ammunition.

Rearguard positions- positions aimed at facilitating the retreat of the main forces in marching (and that in combat) order. Used until the First World War 1914-18.

Attack with boolean wells- the destruction of the enemy, not by counter-mines, but from above, from the surface of the earth, -. It is possible only with the complete carelessness of the enemy and special terrain conditions (invisibility of work for the enemy).

Afghan towers- small round fortifications located on hills, with a fence made of a dry stone wall with a stone or wooden wall adjoining it from the inside. On the wall at the top, teeth were laid out from stone or bags of earth. The entrance to the fortification was blocked by a small moat with an easily dismantled bridge. Inside was a wooden barrack for the garrison. They were used by the British for advanced posts during the war with Afghanistan in 1877 - 1880. They got their name for their resemblance to similar fortifications in Afghan villages.

Bakul- the name of the ancient lifting fortress gates at the entrances to or into a separate independent part of the fortress.

Balista(lat. ballista - throwing projectile) - ancient, driven by the elasticity of twisted bundles of veins. B. was a long wooden chute mounted on wheels or on a special bed. A transverse frame was attached to the end of the gutter with bundles of veins stretched along its edges, into which a lever was inserted. Both levers were connected by a bowstring. A slider was attached to the last middle, sliding along the gutter. The slider was pulled back with the help of the gate, then lowered from the gate, under the influence of tension from the twisted veins, it rushed forward with force. A projectile in the form of a stone or an arrow received a strong blow from the slider and flew out of the chute. B. apparently first appeared among the Phoenicians in the 4th - 3rd centuries. BC e., and then passed to the Greeks and Romans.

Balistarii (balistiers)- Personnel serving throwing siege machines. In Russia, collars corresponded to them.

Bank(French banc - bench) - part above in field fortifications. When shooting was carried out not through, but over the parapet, it was called "shooting through the bank."

Banquet(French banquette - attack) - an embankment behind a high fortification to place archers on it, shooting from behind this parapet. The height of the B. was made such that, standing on it, it was possible to shoot comfortably, i.e., B. should be below the line of fire by. In the old days, B. was also called observation posts, arranged at siege and intermediate batteries to monitor the fall of shells and to correct firing.

Tower drum- a cylinder in armored towers, on which the tower dome rests.

Barbican(Persian bala-khanch - a window, a balcony for shooting above the entrance) - an old fortification building. During the Crusades, this was the name of the wall in the fortified cities of Palestine. Later, this name was transferred to individual towers that defended the approaches to the posts or to the outer entrances of the fortress fences, and from the fortress gates to the tower there was a stone corridor with walls. In the XV century. B. began to be called a separate wall covering between two towers and having loopholes. Sometimes B. were called both themselves and loopholes.

barbet- a bulk platform behind the fortifications for the installation of guns and machine guns firing through the parapet or, as they say, "through".

Barricade(French barricade - barricade) - from various kinds of improvised materials and objects in settlements across roads, streets and near bridges in order to detain the enemy, mainly his infantry, cavalry and tanks. B. for the latter are made of a special design and must be distinguished by the special strength, height and sheerness of the barrier.

barrier gate- wooden gates for locking the exit from field and temporary fortifications (type ) and protecting them from an accidental attack; sometimes they were placed instead of gates.

bastei- a semicircular stone fortress building of the 16th century, which replaced the fortress towers, for longitudinal shelling of the fortress fence. B. were located mainly in the outgoing corners of the fence, had a large ledge in the field and open. Albrecht Dürer's bastions (1527) had open defenses from above, and below, at the bottom of the moat, they were closed. from solidly built casemates. In ancient Russian fortresses, such buildings were called. Appeared with us earlier than in the West.

Bastide. 1. Small fortified villages in the south of France in the XII - XIV centuries, surrounded by a rampart with towers to protect against sudden attacks by small detachments. Sometimes B. were called watchtowers on the city walls.

2. A wooden tower of 2-3 floors, used in the Middle Ages during sieges. In ancient times, these towers were known under the name.

Bastille. 1. Bridge fortification in the form of towers on both sides of the entrance, to protect the latter.

2. Fortified castles in the cities of France (in the Middle Ages). designed primarily for protection in the event of popular uprisings; were also called.

3. Separate fortifications made of stones or wood, erected during the siege in the XIII - XVI centuries; sometimes they were interconnected by earthen ditches and ramparts.

Bastion(Italian bastionato - any protruding building) - pentagonal in the form, with two, two and open, erected at the corners of the fortress fence and adjoining it. The halves of two adjacent B. facing each other and the section of the fence connecting them form. The combination of several bastion fronts, reinforced with auxiliary buildings, was called. The inventor B. is unknown. It is historically reliable only that the first two B. were built in 1527 by the Italian engineer San Michele during the fortification of Verona. The forerunner of the San Michele bastions was the rectangular fortifications of another Italian, Martini, built by him at the end of the 15th century.

Bastion system- cm. .

Bastion corner- the angle made up by the faces.

Batardo- a stone or brick building, arranged in a fortress moat and intended to keep water in the water ditches at the required height, and in dry ditches - to intercept shells aimed at, if the enemy can use the mouth of any other moat for firing. resting on the main one.

Dugout- originally this term was called any coating that protects manpower from defeat. Then B. began to be called any field fortification protective structure, which has one or another degree of protection against defeat from above. These battlements included the simplest buildings, ranging from canopies to structures that provide protection against whole shells of heavy artillery. Depending on the position of the cover, bullets were divided into horizontal, in which the cover was horizontal, and inclined, in which the cover, covered in front by a high embankment, had an inclined position, with a fall in the direction of the projectile flight. At present, all defensive structures erected at some distance from the line of fire are known as , and by B. is meant only shelters for manpower and fixed assets, arranged near the firing position under or next to it. B. became widespread for the first time in Sevastopol in 1854-55.

blinding- protection from artillery fire of structures assigned for various needs of troops or directly for combat. B. was usually reduced to the device of overlapping from hard materials - wood, iron - and sprinkling with earth.

Blockade of the fortress- Surrounding the fortress with troops to stop all its external relations. As a result, the garrison is deprived of the opportunity to receive any help from the outside, and due to the depletion of vital and combat supplies, in the end it is forced to surrender the fortress (most often from hunger). In the ancient and Middle Ages, during the blockade, the fortress was usually surrounded by fortifications that made up. In the XIV - XVI centuries. the latter was also called the blockade line and consisted of separate fortifications (and), connected by a moat and a rampart.

Blockhouse(German: Blockhaus - log building) - fortification, adapted for all-round fire and for the garrison to live in it. The form and design of the B. is the most diverse and depends on the purpose, the nature of the enemy, the terrain, and the availability of certain materials. B. are usually used to protect communications and in forest conditions. Being more or less isolated and being, which must resist on their own for quite a long time, they usually have strong walls and ceilings that can withstand artillery fire of one or another calculated caliber. for rifles and for machine guns, they are cut through so that there are no dead corners (unfired spaces) in front of the B., using which the enemy could safely approach the structure itself. Loopholes for machine guns are made in the most dangerous directions. With the cordon location of the B., each of them should fire at the approaches to the neighboring ones. In 1917, there was an attempt to include under the term "blockhouse" all heavy types, not even intended for habitation. like, for example, machine gun and frontal machine gun emplacements, even mortar emplacements. However, in such an arbitrarily broadened understanding, the term "blockhouse" did not take root, retaining its former narrower meaning. The first time B. appeared in 1778 in Silesia during the War of the Bavarian Succession. Since then, they have become widely used. B. found the widest use in the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, when 8,000 blockhouses of various types were erected over 6,000 km in order to protect English communications from Boer attacks. During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans also often used bombs to protect their communications from partisan attacks.

Combat readiness of fortresses- the readiness of the latter for combat operations during the transition from a peaceful situation to a military one. Based on the definition as a harmonious combination of the garrison, its management, weapons, supplies and long-term fortifications, it was believed that for the B. G. K. it is necessary:

In terms of troops and their management - so that the troops: 1) are familiar with the terrain on which they will have to operate. 2) firmly mastered the methods of serf war. 3) could take up combat positions in a timely manner and meet the enemy, even unexpectedly intruding into their borders. 4) could provide active support by sorties to the flank and rear of the enemy who passed by the fortress and the struggle for the surrounding area.

In terms of weapons and ammunition - that the fortress had all the artillery, ammunition and auxiliary equipment assigned according to the artillery defense plan. and were in their places or stored in the immediate vicinity.

In terms of food and medical supplies - so that the combat readiness of the fortress is ensured by its supply for the entire duration of the war.

In terms of long-term fortifications - so that there is an accurate and detailed work plan for bringing the fortress to defense, calculated by days and hours, from which each chief would know what and when to do and where to get labor. materials, tools, etc. The construction of the fortress itself must also proceed according to a certain plan, according to which the fortress, even if not completed, would to a certain extent have part of the structures that could be used for defense.

The practice of war showed that not a single fortress at the time of the outbreak of hostilities was completely ready for defense for a number of reasons.

Battle line or guard line- so in the first world war of 1914 - 18. the first rifle line was called, which was engaged in guard units of the defending troops, abundantly equipped with machine guns. The success of her defense was based mainly on the skillful combination of artificial, machine-gun fire and counterattacks from close support.

Combat crest- an inflection of the slope of the terrain, from where, at the range of the actual shot, you can fire at the entire underlying slope and the sole without.

Fights plantar, middle and upper- in ancient Russian fortress fences for placing guns. The sole and middle battles were called pechura and each was armed with one gun. The upper battles were intended for the placement of shooters, the sole ones - for flat shelling of the area.

Bolverk (bolverk)- title ; used in the 18th century. A little used term, found only in specialized literature.

Bonet- local elevation (0.45 m above the line of fire) with rifle fire in them. Before the Russo-Japanese War, they settled in fortifications to protect the shooter's head during firing.

Bonet caponier- a defensive casemated building in the ditches of the 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries, which had separate scarp walls and behind them. Placed in the outgoing corner of the wall. B.-to. gave longitudinal rifle defense to the sentinel path, served for its defenders and provided them with communication along with the interior of the fortification. It was also called a casemate.

Breaching- artillery fire with the aim of collapsing vertical fortifications or making holes in them.

Breach Battery(royal battery) - a battery that was located, before the appearance, against the bastion front and was intended to collapse the curtain, make a gap in it for the attacker.

armored door- a door made of armor to protect the entrances to. An armored door for protection against RH is usually made hermetic. A variation of it is an armored shutter, which was previously installed to protect light holes in residential concrete or.

Armor fortification-, which built defenses based on artillery fire from armored mounts, and. Appearance in the second half of the XIX century. rifled artillery and high-explosive shells necessitated not only structural changes, but also an increase in the diameter of the fortresses, that is, a change in the nature of the fortress itself. The latter circumstance played a decisive role in the emergence of the ideas of B. f. An increase in diameter caused an increase in the number and, consequently, in the garrison needed for the fortress. Thus, the question was raised either of increasing the total strength of the army, or of increasing the number of serf troops by reducing the field ones. Not a single state could go for the latter, and not all countries could do the former, especially small ones. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the idea of ​​B. f. found its application mainly in such countries as Belgium, Holland, Romania, Switzerland, Denmark, and only partially in Germany and France. The ideologists of armored fortification were the Belgian military engineer Brialmont, according to whose ideas Belgium, Romania were strengthened, in France - Muern, in Germany - Sauer and Schumann. The extreme expression of B. f. reached in the ideas of Sauer and Schumann. The first proposed to replace the line of forts with a belt of separate armored towers built at a distance of half a kilometer from one another, or, even better, with a double line of towers at a distance of 1 km from each other. The garrison of the towers was exclusively artillerymen. Schuman, in order to reduce the garrison of fortresses and the cost of the latter, proposed to build forts without infantry, in the form of armored batteries, armed with artillery and machine guns and surrounded by obstacles, and the course of defense was to be directed by pressing the buttons of electrical devices from a central observation station. These ideas, being extremely utopian and unrealistic, have not found application. In Russia, the ideas of B. f. did not receive recognition and the main element of the fortress was still recognized as a stronghold for the active actions of the garrison, and not, which was an expression of the passive strength of the fortress. The World War showed the correctness of the ideas of Russian fortification, which. without abandoning the use of armored installations in forts for anti-assault artillery, the basis of defense was still built on the active actions of the garrison.

Armor parapet- a thick metal wall to cover the guns (mainly coastal ones), replacing the earthen rampart. B. b. they were cast in the form of separate segments connected to each other by bolts, wedges, etc. At the appropriate height, it cut through, and the horizontal axis of rotation of the gun was transferred to its muzzle, as a result of which a rather large sector of fire was preserved. The segments were slabs convex to the enemy, embedded in masonry and equipped with transverse brackets-stops, which simultaneously served as if for guns. B. appeared. in the 60s of the XIX century. in England, from where they moved to other countries, including Russia. However, such parapets were not very convenient, and they were soon abandoned.

Bronelafet- lightweight armored construction of the length of the guns, sometimes associated with the machine tools of the gun carriage, which are the support for the dome. There is no drum, and the rotation is performed on the central axis-rack. It is used for light systems of guns - howitzers and shortened medium-caliber rapid-fire cannons.

armored posts- armor closures for observers.

armored belt- advanced armor encircling the tower room in tower structures and reinforcing the concrete mass.

armored gunnery- lowering armored turret for small rapid-fire artillery, assigned to repulse the assault in. It also bears a name.

Parapet(German brustwehr - chest protection) - a part that is a closure from aimed shots and enemy eyes. In the old fortifications, where B. reached a height of 1.4 m or more, he was at the same time an obstacle to the assault, along with a moat in front of him. B. are earthen, metal, armored, reinforced concrete, and in general from any materials. The thickness of the bullet for field fortifications is determined by the condition of impenetrability by a bullet, and for long-term - by the condition of indestructibility by a projectile. Profile B. is determined by three planes: almost vertical internal, horizontal and external inclined. An inner plane (almost vertical) intersects with a nearly horizontal plane. This part of the B. is called the internal steepness of the B. The second segment "between the inner and outer planes, inclined to the ground at an angle of 30 ° - 45 ° (i.e., at the angle of repose of the soil), is called the slope of the B. The last segment, between the slope and the horizon of the earth, is called the front slope of B. The thickness of B. is equal to the length of the slope of B. If the front slope of B. is a continuation of its slope, that is, if both planes merge, then such B. is called glacis or glacis. The slope of B. is given such an inclination that the bullet of a gun laid on it flies no higher than 0.5 m above the horizon. the crest of B. or its intersection of the slope with the front sloping - the outer crest of the B. Parapets have been known since ancient times. They were made in the form of a vertical wall - with, and in field fortifications - from logs.

Bulevardi- the name of the bastions, which had retreat and longline flanks. They were also called bastilles and turions, and among the Germans - bolters.

boolean wells- vertical wells with a cross section of about 0.75 m square and up to 4 - 5 m deep, which served to destroy the enemy with an open dawn. house vv. placed at the bottom of the well. The explosive charge was calculated as to obtain a quadruple funnel, taking the distance from the bottom of the well to the ceiling of the gallery as the line of least resistance. They got their name from the French inventor Captain Buhl. They are also called battle wells.

Boulevard- closed earth fortifications, used in the XV century. during sieges. For the first time, guns were used by the British in 1428 during the siege of Orleans and were square with round ledges at the corners, into which 3 guns were placed, firing through armored ones. Later, the name "boulevard" passed to the line of earthen ramparts in, and after the abolition and removal of the ramparts, it remained behind the alleys planted in their place.

defensive curtain- a system of fortifications, consisting of a number of large ones, in between which separate large ones were erected for fire communications - which served to block the main lines of communication. It was proposed to protect the northeastern and eastern borders of France after the war of 1870-71. engineer general Séret de Riviere and carried out with some modification. It was the first proposal for a continuous strengthening of state borders in modern times.

Defense barracks- cm. .

Defensive casemate- cm. .

Defensive Guardhouse- the simplest view, erected to protect bridges and tunnels from assassination attempts by small enemy parties that penetrated the rear, and saboteurs. It was a separate structure and walls that blocked access to the coastal abutments of the bridge or the entrances to the tunnels.

defensive line- the term has several meanings.

1. In the strategy, this was the name of a line difficult for troops to pass, for example, a water barrier, a mountain range, a number of local objects convenient for defense, etc. O. l. - the same, but calculated for strategic actions and capable of exerting one or another influence on the general course of events of a given theater of war. Therefore, it had to satisfy the same basic requirements that were imposed on any position, i.e. have flanks protected from envelopment and provide a number of natural or artificial strongholds and convenient exits for going on the offensive with significant forces. This term has now been replaced by the term frontier.

2. In the XVII - XVIII centuries. O. l. a position was called, fortified by a rampart with a moat, which usually had a vedan or tonal, and more often a mixed inscription. Such lines had a huge extent - up to hundreds of kilometers. Appearance in the XVII - XVIII centuries. such O. l. due to the inactive nature of the wars of this time, caused by the very nature of the armies (mercenary armies) and weapons, the store supply system, and finally the unwillingness of the generals to risk their armed forces. To defend these lines, entire armies were stretched out over a vast stretch. With the indecision of the enemy O. l. reached their goal, but with the activity of the enemy, their value quickly fell. Revolutionary wars of the French Republic at the end of the 18th century. and Napoleon's wars led to the rapid disappearance of these lines, although in the literature they were still proposed for a long time as a form of fortification of the area.

3. In the first world war of 1914 - 18. O. l. or a position was a strip of terrain equipped with at least two, located at a distance of about 7 - 8 km from each other, and each having about 1 km of width. Thus, the general depth of O. of l. reached 9 - 10 km. Now such strengthened O. l. bears the name.

defensive line- a position occupied for defense by military formations - from a rifle brigade to the army inclusive (O. p. divisions, O. p. army).

defensive building- cm. .

Defensive structures- a group designed to fire from them. The term is currently used.

defensive walls- separate stone walls in the period of high-explosive bombs, adapted for rifle defense. O. s. were used mainly as separate scarp walls in the fortress ditches. The upper part of the wall was covered with a shed or gable roof made of iron or a stone slab. were located at a distance of 1.0 m from each other, walked behind the wall.

Defensive dugout- a canopy adapted for shooting from through to. Appeared with us in the Russo-Japanese War to protect against shrapnel and shrapnel. Found great use in the war of 1914-18. During the Great Patriotic War, due to the shortcomings inherent in canopies in general, it found little use. O. b., cut into the front steepness of the trench for 1 - 2 people, was called the nest for shooters.

Defensive Glacis- cm. .

Defensive traverse- adapted to the defense.

Terrain equipment- a term sometimes used instead of the term fortification of the terrain (see), but wider than the latter, since the O. m. includes not only purely fortification elements, but also the construction of roads, the construction of dugouts, etc. Thus, it is more correct to say in this case about engineering O. m., the strengthening of the terrain is similar to the concept of "fortification equipment of the terrain."

reverse glacis- gently sloping earth with a laying of 1:12. making it possible to easily launch a counter-attack in all directions to the garrison gathered at the bottom of the ditch. Its disadvantage was that for the enemy, he also did not represent an obstacle, as. for example, the usual counter-scarp.

Sprinkling- the upper layer of the earth above, which has the purpose of weakening the fragmentation effect of destruction means, limiting and weakening the scattering of stones, pieces of concrete, coatings and contributing to the camouflage of the structure. O.'s thickness is made from 0.3 to 0.5 m.

bypass ditch- a ditch for communication behind with a width along the bottom of about 0.7 m.

General retranchement- cm. .

firing position- a piece of terrain on which a fire weapon made for combat is located. See also .

firing point- a fire weapon that is on and ready for action. This term is sometimes completely incorrectly used to refer to the structure itself, intended to place a fire weapon in it.

Roundabout city- an old Russian term meaning an external defensive fence in cities that had several fences.

Trench- the simplest earthen cover for firing infantry, machine guns or artillery pieces from it. Depending on this, O. are called:,,, trenches for anti-tank rifles, etc. O. coincided with the appearance of rifled weapons and high-explosive shells, when the increased damage and accuracy of shooting forced them to dig into the ground. The structures erected before that time cannot be called O. in the modern sense of the word, since at that time mainly bulk structures were practiced, such as fortifications (,) and bulk. This was caused by the need to have a difficult to overcome obstacle for the assault and to most effectively hit the enemy, advancing in columns to the full height of a person (hence, the aiming line had to be raised higher). The only exception was during the siege of fortresses, which were intended mainly for approaching the fortress, and not for shooting. The increase in the power of weapons, which caused a change in the formation of battle formations during attack and defense, the appearance of defections, as well as the requirements of camouflage, made it necessary to dig into the ground and abandon high embankments. The first types of O. "legalized" by fortifiers appeared during the defense of Sevastopol in 1854-55. in the form of various kinds (artillery, infantry). In America, during the Civil War, sharpshooters, in the form of long trenches, were already used in large numbers, which was caused by the arming of the Americans with rifled weapons. The appearance in 1872 of the infantry and its introduction into equipment in subsequent years in all armies has already led to the general use of O. along with redoubts and lunettes.

Russo-Japanese War 1901 - 05 finally revealed that noticeable high fortifications are not very suitable for field warfare in modern conditions and that the only acceptable form is inconspicuous O. with a small . A little earlier, in the Anglo-Boer War, (Boer trenches) appeared. During the First World War 1914-18. The main type of O. adopted O. complete profiles. The Great Patriotic War, on the other hand, took it for a normal type of shooting from the bottom of the ditch, as it was narrower and gave better protection against mortar fire, aviation and tanks.

During the First World War 1914-18. artillery often refused to dig in guns, but the Great Patriotic War, in connection with the development of aviation, showed the need for artillery trenches.

Trench fortification profile- profile, or other similar fortifications, similar to the full profile with a height of 0.5 m. Reinforced with artificial (wire, notches) located in front, in a shallow ditch, closed from the enemy ground observer.

Stronghold- an ancient Russian term denoting a fortress fence, that is, fortress walls or ramparts.

strong point- in the most general sense - a fortified point, the possession of which enables the troops to defend other parts of the position and influence them, and with the loss of which these opportunities are lost. Thus, a fortified area can be a base for an army group, for an army, some fortified village for a regiment or battalion, and so on.

In a narrower sense, the positions occupied by the troops were in the 18th - 19th centuries. individual fortifications - or even . The first were called closed O. p., the second - open, since they were not protected.

During the First World War 1914-18. ops were understood as separate points equipped for independent defense and, moreover, in such a way that they could be held in their hands for a long time after the enemy had already occupied the adjacent sections of the position, and fire from which on these occupied sections could make it much more difficult for the enemy to consolidate and further spread both in depth and to the flanks. Thus, it was possible to gather forces for a counter-attack. The garrison of the O. p. was permanent, had to always be in it and, apart from its direct purpose, did not take part in any actions. O. p. could be constant or included in or. The garrison of an open-air settlement usually consisted of a company.

At present, an opposing base is understood as a piece of terrain in a platoon defense area, the retention of which ensures the strength of the area's defense. To do this, he adapts to all-round defense in order to keep the entire zone under fire in front of the forward edge, inside the defense area and in the rear, and also to concentrate the fire of all means on the flanks and the most dangerous directions. Engaged in several departments with amplification means. The most important of the platoon ops is the main ops of the company and is most strongly reinforced and strengthened by fire, including anti-tank. means and stubbornly held.

gun lodgement- so in the middle of the XIX century. were called.

Main firing position- firing position, from which the fire weapon solves the given main fire task in the best possible way.

Prison- the so-called small fortified points. erected in Russia since the XIII century. to protect places of secondary importance, most often on the borders with peoples who are little skilled in military affairs. During the conquest of Siberia, Yermak built such O. during his movement into the interior of the country. O.'s fortifications were a palisade or made of pointed stakes and wattle fences up to 6 m high. In terms of O., it usually represented a quadrangle figure, at the corners of which wooden towers were erected, and in the middle of one of the sides a walk-through tower was made to communicate with the field. Often the term O. or Ostrozhek was also used for the name of the mobile ones. Sometimes O. was called the Russians, who settled down to lay siege to the fortified city.

Scree- an embankment, which was an earthen fence -. Ancient Russian term.

Repulsion of the fortification- cm. .

Separate fortress position- a long-term position located in a straight line or in an arc of greater or lesser convexity.

Separate fortification- company fortification, located separately from the general position.

Breakaway- the phenomenon of breaking out pieces of concrete in the coating or walls from the inside of the structure during the explosion of a projectile from the outside. To protect against O., the thickness of the coating or wall is calculated according to special formulas, and to reduce the resulting large thickness, spall-resistant clothing is used in the form of chain mail nets or flexible reinforcement, or metal beams installed with an interval of 25–40 cm.

central fence- central fortification, which had a continuous circular fence around and consisted of ramparts with a moat in front, connecting separate strongholds - fortresses ( , ). The ditches received longitudinal defense from the flanking buildings of the strongholds or from separately located structures. Appointment C. o. - to provide the core of the fortress from an attack with open force and serve as a rear position in case the enemy breaks through between.

chain line of fortifications- continuous fortified lines, used in the 18th and partly in the 19th century. and consisting either of, or of, connected, or from a combination, or finally from a combination of bastions with curtains located in ledges (cremal lines).

Cyclopean fortresses- so the ancient constructions are called. erected for defense purposes from huge stones weighing several tons. They were named so by the Greek traveler Pausanias, who suggested that only the Cyclopes, mythical one-eyed creatures with tremendous power, could build such structures. It is wrong to call cyclopean structures fortresses, since they were rather stone settlements, where the terrain itself dictated the need to build stone fortifications, and at first they were built from uncut stones, and later, with the appearance of slavery and the division of labor, they were already built from hewn stones. Large stones had the advantage of giving the necessary verticality to the barrier. There are especially a lot of TsK in Transcaucasia.

Circumvalation line(lat. circum - around; vallare - to strengthen) - a continuous line of fortifications, erected in the ancient and Middle Ages during the blockade of fortified points to protect against attacks from the outside on the besieging troops of the troops marching to the rescue of the besieged. They consisted of a solid shaft and a moat with separate towers.

Citadel(Italian citadella - small town) - internal fortification, which had an independent defense, which was a common fortress and served as the last stronghold for the garrison of the fortress in the event of the fall of the main fortifications. The camp should be large enough to accommodate the entire remaining garrison and have sufficient supplies. The initial purpose of the C. was different: it housed the garrison of the conqueror in order to keep the population in subjection. With the development of absolutism in the cities, central buildings were erected for the same purpose for government troops.