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Towers no longer protruded at right angles from the wall; rather, they blended with the wall. These created a two-fold advantage. First, defenders in the towers had a field of fire of 280 degrees or more. This range of fire and the towers' positioning allowed defenders to fire upon the attackers' flank as they advanced, a deadly fire called
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321:' chief engineer. It includes a zig-zag sap emerging from a bastion of the circumvallation. The zig-zags are at such angles and positions that the defenders were unable to bring enfilade fire to bear. Once the sap was completed four cannons were placed much closer to a gateway than those in bastions of the circumvallation.
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century. To breach the walls, Ferdinand ordered his soldiers to dig into the feldspar supporting the side of the mountain and place an explosive charge. Even after the powder was ignited and a substantial portion of the wall, the gate, and the inner walls were breached, the defenders still held out for three days.
297:(6 March 1645 – 8 May 1646) showing in green a sap that allows Roundhead siege artillery to be placed closer to the fortifications of Newark than the circumvallation. Notice that the lines of advance of the zig-zag are at such an angle and position that the defenders were unable to bring enfilade fire to bear.
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of military operations in the late medieval and first decades of the early modern period of warfare. Fortresses with abutments with gentler angles were difficult to breach; cannonballs and mortar shells often had little impact on the walls, or impact that could be readily repaired after night fell.
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Before the development of explosives, sapping was the undermining of an enemy's fortifications, which would collapse when the sap's supports were removed. Later, explosives were placed surreptitiously in the undermining sap or mine, then detonated, as was done with 450 tons of high explosive in the
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to describe the digging of a covered trench (a "sap") to approach a besieged place without danger from the enemy's fire. The purpose of the sap is usually to advance a besieging army's position towards an attacked fortification. It is excavated by specialised military units, whose members are often
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During First World War trench warfare, the combatant's sappers, who were often experienced civilian miners who had been rejected for combat duties due to age or ill-health, strived to undermine each other's positions, working silently to avoid detection. After completing a mine it was filled with
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A Dictionary Of The
Military Science:Containing an Explanation Of The Principal Terms Used In Mathematics, Artillery, and Fortification, And Comprising The Substance Of The Latest Regulations On Courts Martial, Pay, Pension, Allowances, Etc. A Comparative Table Of Ancient And Modern Geography;
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fired on the fortress with large caliber cannons; this had little impact on the walls. The cannons were firing heavy shot, but the height of the fortress significantly reduced the force of the impact with the walls, which bounced off to little effect, although the fortress dated from the 14th
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towards an enemy position. It allows the attacking infantry to approach an enemy position without being detected and safe from enemy fire. For the attack, the tunnel is opened and the infantry attacks the enemy position at comparatively short range. Russian saps were widely used in the
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By using the sap, the besiegers could move closer to the walls of a fortress, without exposing the sappers to direct fire from the defending force. To protect the sappers, trenches were usually dug at an angle in zig-zag pattern (to protect against
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A way to force entry into a fortified structure was to dig a mine or sap under defensive walls, typically shored up by wooden props. On collapsing the tunnel, for example by burning the props, the wall would collapse.
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Townshend, pp. 28-29. ("Such projections from the wall both forced the hostile cannon to fire from longer range and enabled the defenders to enfilade attackers.")
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the walls. A fire or gunpowder would then be used to create a crater into which a section of the fortifications would fall, creating a breach.
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could be moved through the trenches to get closer to—and enable firing at—the fortification. The goal of firing is to batter a breach in the
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explosives, sometimes hundreds of tons, and detonated, followed by an attack on the surprised survivors from the destroyed position.
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in defensive architecture in the 1500s. The
Italian style star fort bastion made siege warfare and sapping the
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showed that fortresses could still withstand sapping and explosives to a point. After the attacking force of
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Sapping trenches, cannons and gunpowder explosives were a potent force against fortifications. However, the
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along with the besiegers redoubts and fortified camps was drawn up by R Clampe, the besieging
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529:. Godesberg, das Siebengebirge, und ihre Umgebung. Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag, 1864, p. 43.
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Achievements Of The
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fire from the defenders), and at the head of the sap a defensive shield made of
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which took place from 6 March 1645 – 8 May 1646. A detailed map of the
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at a time and filling it with earth taken from the trench.
584:"Was the tunnellers' secret war the most barbaric of WW1?"
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http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgm-003.html
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http://civilwarfortifications.com/dictionary/xgs-003.html
184:, miners could start to tunnel from the head of a sap to
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and tools are available to assist in formatting, such as
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542:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2000, p. 28.
371:, when four of them were further equipped with
293:A detail from the Clampe's map of the siege of
196:, the largest planned explosion until the 1945
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56:, which are uninformative and vulnerable to
71:and maintains a consistent citation style.
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661:The Civil War Field Fortifications Website
507:"Ironclad: The siege of Rochester (1215)"
358:is a tunnel dug at a shallow depth under
113:Learn how and when to remove this message
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649:(in German). Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag.
619:(New ed.). London: James Maynard
373:Livens Large Gallery Flame Projectors
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492:participating institution membership
454:participating institution membership
309:defences of Newark and the lines of
375:. Similar tactics were used in the
133:digging a sap with a sap roller on
63:Please consider converting them to
1073:Naples underground geothermal zone
640:. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
393:tunnel warfare from the Gaza Strip
27:Type of siege operation in warfare
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634:The Oxford history of modern war
631:Charles, Townshend, ed. (2000).
540:The Oxford history of modern war
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30:For the geomorphic process, see
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977:Underground mining (hard rock)
962:Subsurface utility engineering
67:to ensure the article remains
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972:Underground mine ventilation
538:Charles Townshend (editor).
387:to attack US troops, and by
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1048:Underground City (Beijing)
383:, when they dug under the
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696:Man-made and man-related
479:Oxford English Dictionary
441:Oxford English Dictionary
367:, for example during the
1169:Earth shelters Australia
949:underground construction
198:Trinity atomic bomb test
909:Missile launch facility
612:Campell, E.S.N (1844).
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446:Oxford University Press
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169:) could be deployed.
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391:, when carrying out
232:Ferdinand of Bavaria
129:Union troops of the
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1083:Subterranean London
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967:Tunnel construction
748:Burial vault (tomb)
482:(Online ed.).
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32:groundwater sapping
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925:Underground hangar
513:. 29 October 2009.
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1176:Coober Pedy
1068:Mole people
1013:Coober Pedy
930:Spider hole
813:Root cellar
698:subterranea
524:(in German)
356:Russian sap
350:Russian sap
228:Cologne War
103:August 2022
18:Russian sap
623:2007-11-19
494:required.)
456:required.)
415:References
385:Yalu River
377:Korean War
319:Roundheads
159:enfilading
69:verifiable
944:quarrying
838:Wine cave
758:Catacombs
307:Cavaliers
186:undermine
54:bare URLs
1196:Category
899:Casemate
853:Stepwell
793:Hypogeum
783:Erdstall
773:Dry well
753:Borehole
743:Basement
727:Sinkhole
593:22 April
403:See also
395:against
279:enfilade
58:link rot
1160:Malator
1078:Sapping
798:Manhole
763:Dungeon
329:In the
204:History
167:mantlet
163:gabions
151:sappers
149:called
142:Sapping
940:Mining
911:(silo)
889:Bunker
818:Tunnel
722:Grotto
717:Cenote
496:(verb)
458:(noun)
397:Israel
335:gabion
295:Newark
174:cannon
165:(or a
137:, 1863
78:reFill
946:, and
788:Fogou
638:(PDF)
488:
473:"sap"
450:
435:"sap"
420:Notes
389:Hamas
285:1600s
258:fort.
242:forts
218:1500s
52:uses
833:Well
712:Cave
595:2019
313:and
86:and
588:BBC
511:BBC
1198::
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