A Posthumous Treatise on Warfare in the Great Ash Desert - By Robert Fauchard

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BARRICADES AND THEIR MANIFOLD USES
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IN THE IMPERIAL YEAR OF VMMDCCLXXXVII
TESRIN HRAY

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Now in the eleventh year since the falling of the Many Ring'd Walls and nearly ten years since the demise of the House of Orentes at the hands of the Banda's Betrayal, the Well of Ephia, Bel-Ishûn, was captured into the hands of the Maribid Sultanate. Bey Sorazin of the fabled Al-Komayyads was assigned its protector alongside his army, the Fourth Legion- colloquially known as the Fourth, and as "The Misfortune" by dissidents. It is the duty, the task, and the very life-mission of the Fourth Legion of the Maribid Caliphate to defend and fortify Ephia's Well into a fortress impenetrable. In this chapter, you, hopeful soldier, are to learn the ways of defense, the stratagems and tactics required to survive siege, skirmish, and grand battle. We shall begin by examining the humble and unassuming barricade. Behold, the first subject of our study- the Chevaux-de-Frise:

The Chevaux-de-Frise, or rather commonly known as the spike-barricade is a simple yet elegantly designed tool of defense. Spiked on both ends, with manifold gaps between that allow for spears to be thrust through from the defenders' side. The X-shape provides a great resilience to the structure, and the spikes are sharpened on the bottom ends so as to dig deep into the dirt and remain strong against enemy attacks, all the while being simple to transport.

Moreover, the spikes sharpened towards the side facing the enemy are an excellent force of defense against charging infantry and is an absolute terror for cavalry to face. Many commanders have utilized guile in combination with the spike-barricade, covering it with leaves or hidden under ditches to trick cavalrymen to charge to their doom. The spike-barricade is both simple to construct, and deadly in effect. Many a battle has been won and lost by the Chevaux-de-Frise.

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The Cheval-de-Frise may also be utilized in naval warfare. Observe, to the right, the illustration of a spike-barricade erected in a riverbank. Such a configuration is highly effective against ships, preventing any and all upriver movement. Not only is the spike-barricade highly versatile and cheap to manufacture, it is also simple to move and re-position. This makes it one of the most vital type of barricade for the fighting-man to become as familiar with as they are with their arms and

To use the spike-barricade in a river, it's vital to build it long enough, and wide enough, with a box comprised of pebbles, gravel, and a sharp spike facing diagonally towards the coming of the enemy. Then, it is dumped in waters, not too shallow, nor too deep, for it is vital that the tides and waves conceal it from the foe. Having made it so, the barricade now becomes a trap-and-wall combined, blocking passage as well as surprising the foe with an unexpected battering-ram of sorts capable of causing severe damage to fast ships, boats, and other such vessels.
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CONSTRUCTION OF THE CHEVAUX-DE-FRISE

To begin, find a thick and sturdy log of wood. This will be the central base of the lances (the diagonal spikes) of the barricade. It must not be rotting, and ought to be of goodly weight. Begin by removing the bark with a sharp and rigid-set knife. Find the center of the log, and mark two fourty-five degree diagonal line across each end of the log. Use the knife to mark small notches on the center-end of the diagonal line and affix a guiding-plank to which you shall hammer a nail onto the center of the log to attach rightly.


Take the knife once more, and with a keen-eye, carve a straight line across the log leading from the very same fourty-five degree indent using the guiding-plank as a reference, from one end to the other. This line shall become the basis for the lances, which are to be thirteen-centimeters apart. Mark along the guiding-line every twenty-six centimeters on one side of the log, off-setting on the other side every thirteen-centimers. This way, you will have alternatively-facing lances, or spikes, every thirteen centimeters.

Bore a hole through each of the marks with a solid-steel augur or other such tool, making certain that the holes are straight and do not overlap. Afterwards, carve thinner, smaller logs into five-centimeter diameter by 3-meter length lances or spikes and affix tightly onto the base log. Grease with lard, beeswax, or oil to affix the lances both smoothly and tightly. Allow for a brief period for the grease to set.

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Siegecraft: How to Topple Towers
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Few things inspire so much awe and fear as the stone walls of a great keep, its towers reaching high to pierce the clouds akin to many fingers reaching to grab ahold of the Gods. How may mortal man do aught but shiver in fear at the very sight of such structures? Spear and arrows cannot hope to break such stone, and that is true. However, the guile of man runs deep, and there are many ways to take down even the most well-fortified fortress.

First, it is imperative that one fully understand when it is time for siege. Siege comes only, and I stress, only after a frontal assault fails. The very meaning of the word "siege" originally means "to sit", and sit you must. Diplomacy, guile, machinery, and vile stratagems all lie in the realm of siegecraft. There is little honour in it, and a great lack of valour in the very thing. Prior to a siege, it is good conduct to request a surrender from the defenders, offering fair and just conditions that place you clear as victor, yet retain the dignity and honour of the would-be vanquished. If such terms are not accepted, then it is high-time to grab ahold of honour roughly, and hurl it into the very bottom of the Pearled Sea with an iron ball-and-chain strapped to its ankles so that it may drown.

Now that we are ready to conduct siege, let us delve into what methods lie at our disposal. The first technique any marshal ought to employ is "investment", a process of surrounding the fort with a large investment of troops and defenses. Recall, reader, the chapter on barricades, for even here we see the spiked barricade in popular use by the offensive. Even forts, yes, towers and keeps may be built by the besieging army at times, but we shall first examine two essential defenses.

Primary of these two defensive structures is the contravallation— a line of barricades, accompanied often by a ditch or trench of sorts, facing the vermin holed up in the keep. It is imperative that one take the time to build this, as otherwise the enemy can leave their keep during the cover of night and burn your tents and you will be utterly ruined. Typically, both of these include lines of ramparts formed out of mud, clay, and wood; lines of trenches; and lines of Cheval-de-Frise. More and more fortifications give you not only greater security, but the chance to even source food by way of hunting or fishing if the siege lasts long.

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How may we topple towers, and make them crash against the earth? The answer lies in the mind of the engineer. A goodly king will always cherish and reward engineers with such riches and honours that they shall never want for more. The first of these many inventions, which we shall only touch on briefly here, is the catapult, which means "to hurl", and hurl it shall indeed! Catapults come in many shapes, all of which have a variety of uses. Some of the most common kinds are as follows:

   Trebuchet:
      • The most powerful weapon for sieges. Made of a long arm with a dangling sack
        that stores ammunition. A counterweight may be present, and increases power.
        Hurls large stones, or may hurl wooden darts and poles. Ammunition often   
        involves alchemical fire, which sets forts ablaze with ease. Range varies based on
        the projectile and design, may be anywhere from thirty to a hundred meters.
        Expensive to produce and immobile.


   Mangonel or Onager:
      • A great arm with a bowl at its end used to hurl stones, excrement, or carcasses
        in order to terrify the enemy. Easy to construct. Has a range of only about a            
        hundred meters. Highly mobile (with wheels).

   Ballistae:
      • Giant crossbows that loose a great bolt of wood with an iron tip. Deadly in its
        accuracy, yet it lacks firepower. Has a long range of four-fifty meters. Immobile.

   Springald or Skein-bow:
      • Similar to the ballistae, being a great crossbow, but one that is housed inside a
        rectangular box. Used primarily in defensive structures, it bears inward swinging
        arms made of twisted skeins of silk or sinew, making it expensive. Immobile.

Of course, these machines may not always "seal the deal" as one may expect, one such example may be observed in the Siege of Bayt Al-Yakdhib by the true knights of the Order of the Cinquefoil Corsage. Sieges do not only rely on weapons. Rather, the primary weapon of a siege is the stomach. Thirst, starvation, and plague are the true weapons of siegecraft. This is the less glamorous part, as often it calls for the poisoning of rivers, the hurling of carcasses and dung to sicken the defenders, trickery, and of course, betrayal.

What happened with the Banda Rossa in the fabled siege was no rare feat. Mercenaries fight for coin, and it's common practice to offer a greater pay to the foe's mercenaries, or even a greater share in the booty and plunder. That is what the Knights' marshals decided on, and what brought the Well back to the hands of the Maribids. A grand castle is often taken not with the ardour of fighting-men, but the cunning of rogues, and the twinkling of coin.

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Earth and timber fortifications alone are far too inadequate to protect against the storms of both Ash and of steel. Yet even such grand walls of stone cannot hope to defend against the turning of Time's wheel, and the roaring of man's belly. Hunger, thirst, and morale are all vital factors in matters of siege. You must endeavour to be creative, to think, and to utilize all that you have in your arsenal to the very extreme if you wish to survive a siege. Remember that surrender is ever an option, and that pride is an asp that bites with venom at the legs of men.

When the time has come for siege, it is best that it is in harvest season or shortly after. The wisdom in this is the very same as the old adage "to hit two birds with one stone", you acquire more food to store, and as the besieger (not the besieged), you harm the enemy doubly so by both sieging and taking their rightful spoils in their fields. Therefore, not only will you be more able in withstanding the troubles of time, but so too will you render your foe weakened as they tremble and worry for food.

More the better if you bring up engines, tools to hurl stone, and hurl not only stone, but dung and rotten carcasses of animals and dead soldiery if you have. In their death and defecation will you have a powerful tool to bring plague upon the hated enemy, as they cannot hope to inflict such disease upon you while you remain in open fields, and not engulfed on all sides by stone walls as if in a tomb of your own creation. Make sure you arrange for ladders as well, as when the enemy is weakened you must climb and grasp the moment while it is yet ripe.

Yet to reach such a state in which you may attain victory over the enemy, you must make trenches and defenses as discussed prior, fortifying your position among all possibly sides and angles, unless there be a mountain by the side of the enemy. You must build a true fortress of stone, wood, and willpower to drain that of the enemy. If you shall bring ladders, then place firmly wheels on the bottom of them with symbols of all the Gods not only to roll them out swiftly but also to please the divine and not incur their wrath, and that they may have a weight to hold them down against the wall, so one cannot push them over from above and make them fall.

If you wish to take a citadel down by force swiftly without awaiting the rumbling of bellies or the rotting of plague, then you must make use of stone and all that you can see. War-mages are terrible in their power, and such a chapter will be dedicated to them entirely, but for this brief mention know that their assaults can be as a catapult yet far more severe, with meteors blazing hot like the infernos beyond as seen in the Battle of Red Hill brought down by the Apothar Mae Stern of the Astronomers of Q'tolip. However, martial men are not gelded in such, for we have grand weapons of destruction at our disposal, as well as our arms.

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If the commander has workmen in his force, then he would do well to use them in mining. Mining a tunnel under and toward the walls of the keep is a brilliant way to bring down the walls, cause chaos, confusion, and terror in the ranks of the foe. Decide if you wish your mine to make the walls fall, or to be a secret passage into the belly of the beast, and then set your workmen to labour away. Provide good watch and defense around the miners, and be not idle in such matters. As the workmen labour about digging toward your victory, you must make certain they are far away from the enemy who would carry out the dirt in the siege, you must make certain you raise a racket loud enough to distract the enemy's guards. The holes must be deeper than the trenches you dig, and you must labour away at gathering wood to support the mine 'lest it fall on your workmen and render their deaths.

Keep the enemy busy at all times. Give them no rest, not at night, and neither at day. To make certain your miners are not harried away by the enemy, you must harry the enemy instead. Arrows, cannons, ballistae, and catapults. If you have no ammunition, then sound trumpets. If you have no trumpets, beat your arms against your shields. If you have none of that, then howl and scream and pound the floor with your boots until your feet bleed from pain. Do all that you must to distract the enemy, and you shall succeed.

If it so turns out that the mining-men have well and truly pierced into the castle undetected, somewhere in the courtyard or elsewhere, then you must at once and with haste have your men-at-arms make way through the tunnel and into the keep with dried wood (which you must keep storage of in all times). Order them to set the wood by all buildings, and set it on fire. Have them slaughter all they see, save for the nobles and commanders who you must take as hostage to make rich ransom of. In chaos, you must be orderly, for the enemy must experience chaos, and you must experience discipline.

But if this scheme fails, and you cannot hope to pierce the castle from without, you must pierce it from within. Spies, informants, tempting bribes to the enemy's men. All such avenues a determined commander ought to pursue, and let not petty ideals of honour or piety limit you, for they may very well result in your death, and the failure of your duty upon your liege. Know that all you envision, the enemy would deal upon you thrice over. In such times, a commander who is sufficiently wise and readied in his heart for battle would have no qualms of hurling rotting carcasses and dung by way of catapults onto the enemy's courtyard. Poison their wells from within if you may, find any ingress that is available to you. The will and morale of men, alongside their health, is of as great import as that of the strength of the castle's walls to its besiegers. Always seek the least bloody and swiftest way to access a keep. The efficient, obedient soldier is a soldier beloved by his superiors, and that soldier would stop at naught to win.

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As we've covered before in the matter of Siegecraft, there are numerous tools and weapons that may be used in siege, the most common of which can be divided into four distinct categories: trebuchets, mangonels (or onagers), ballistae, and springalds (or skein-bows). All of them sharing one primary function, which is to hurl ammunition in the form of bolts or boulders at high velocities. We'll be taking a closer look as we examine all of these weapons of siege and their particularities.

The trebuchet is by far the most deadly of all siege weapons, and also the most costly. The most common form of this weapon is the counterweight trebuchet, a mechanism that uses a heavy counterweight to swing forth an arm in wide arc up and over the trebuchet. Observe, to the right, the illustration painted by a skilled artist. At the end of the arm dangles a leather pouch, which can hold ammunition- flaming boulders or shrapnel fire. Using the mechanism is relatively simple, despite its complicated construction. As the arm is held across and
away from the mass of the mechanism, a heavy iron counterweight at one end of the lever is tossed down, connected loosely to the arm at the other end. This pull-down force transfers all that power into the arm, pulling it towards the front. As it comes closer, however, a wooden blockade stops it from being yanked clean off the structure, all the while this is happening, the open leather sack lets loose all the projectiles within towards the target at very high speeds, just as a boy with a sling.

It's unknown exactly where the trebuchet first originated, and its inventor, but many claim that the first trebuchet was created during the golden age of the Nasirid Caliphate. Nowadays, the only nations willing to produce trebuchets is the Sultanate of Baz'eel, having their bouldermancers and geomancers be a steady source of ammunition for these voracious war-machines.

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With the expensive, comes both the trebuchets and the springalds. Both are immobile weapons of highly destructive power, but the one thing they differ on is which end they're facing. The Trebuchet is a wonderful machine of offensive power, whereas the springald (or colloquially known as the skein-bow among the rabble), is a weapon designed solely for defense in mind. Unlike the other siege engines, springalds can not be built alone, as they are a fixture to a defensive battlement and not a separate tool. Think of a springald as the seat on a chair, relying on the legs to stand, whereas the other siege engines are more like signposts or pillars, capable of standing on their own.

Springalds are a common fixture ontop of gate towers and the likes. Twisted pairs of skein silk or sinew would be wound up, using the wheel at the front, which when released would create a powerful blast that propels any bolt flying at incredibly high speeds. On the board at the center, a large bolt would often be loaded, and while it is not as intensive as a trebuchet, a crew of three or so men would be needed to regularly reload and let loose the bolts. Their construction is both a boon and a bane, as the rigid design makes it so that even an unskilled, untrained soldier can operate the mechanism. However, it means that no soldier, no matter how talented or gifted their eyes may be, can not aim the projectile as it's affixed strictly onto the tower. However, as the role of this machine is in defense and not offense, aiming is not much of a priority, as you can largely predict where the enemy forces would be placed, for instance, infront of your most vulnerable gate, or perhaps the only gate you have.

Today's inheritor of the skein-bow's legacy is the Il-Modan cannon, a recent invention, and the larger variants of ballistae that encircle every fortified keep in the whole of the Ash Desert. However, archaic and old as the springald may be, it is still a weapon that may be put to use in the right circumstances.

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