4: How did armies traditionally lay siege to a town?(3 points)

Answer 1

Armies traditionally laid siege to a town through the following key methods:

1. Encirclement: The besieging army would surround the town to cut off supplies, reinforcements, and escape routes. This isolation aimed to weaken the defenders by depriving them of essential resources.

2. Construction of Siege Works: Siege engines, such as trebuchets, catapults, or battering rams, were built to breach the town's walls. This also included erecting siege towers to allow attackers to scale walls and employing trenches and fortifications to protect the besieging troops from counterattacks.

3. Psychological Warfare and Starvation: The attackers would often employ tactics to intimidate the defenders, such as displays of force or mobilizing loud military tactics. Simultaneously, they aimed to induce surrender by waiting for the besieged to run out of provisions, leading to starvation and desperation among the civilian population and defenders.

These methods combined to create a prolonged and usually grueling process that could last for weeks or months, depending on the defenses and the resources available to both sides.