The mystery of the ancient wooden gate: Why did you give up \”attacking the city gate with fire\” during the siege and choose to risk climbing?

Today we are going to talk about an interesting historical topic——ancient times City gate.

Have you ever wondered why ancient city gates mostly used wooden gates instead of stronger stone gates? Faced with these seemingly fragile wooden doors, Why is fire attack such a powerful strategy?,but it has not become the mainstream of siege warfare ? Don\’t worry, listen to me slowly.

Pictures taken from the Internet

This wooden door was not chosen randomly! In that era, resources were limited and had to be spent carefully. Wood is cheap and easy to find, unlike stone, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive and expensive. Moreover,another advantage of wooden doors is that they are flexible and changeable. When reinforcement is needed, just add a few boards. If it breaks, It’s also easy to tinker with and continue using. Just like the furniture we use at home, if it breaks down, it can be repaired and still be used.

The picture is taken from the Internet

This fire attack, listen It sounds really powerful, but it\’s not that simple in practice. If the wind direction changes, the fire may get out of control; in addition, there were often rivers next to the cities at that time. Once a fire was discovered, the defenders could quickly put it out with water. Even if the city gate was burned, The soldiers in the city are not vegetarians. They can also fight back from other exits! So, although this fire attack sounds majestic, its actual success rate is not high.

The picture is taken from the Internet

Of course, neither did the ancients Vegetarians, they put a lot of thought into designing the city gate. In addition to the wooden gate itself, there are many other defensive measures, such asMoats, suspension bridges, arrow towers, fortsetc., these are all \”insurance\” set up to protect the city gate. In this way, even if the enemy really attacks the city , and it will take a lot of effort to break through these lines of defense.

Pictures taken from the Internet

Pictures taken from the Internet

There are many in history The siege left a deep impression on us. For exampleIn the Battle of Chibi, the story of Sun Quan\’s coalition forces using the east wind to burn the company\’s battalion to defeat Cao Cao\’s army fully demonstrates the fire attack The huge power; but it also reflects the uncertainty of fire attack. There is also the Battle of Tongguan during the Anshi Rebellion. The rebels tried many times to break through Tongguan but failed. This also shows that It is difficult to achieve final victory by relying solely on a certain tactic. The Mongolian siege of Xiangyang was a protracted war. Victory was achieved through a combination of internal chaos and external siege. This also reminds us how complex and difficult siege warfare is.

Pictures taken from the Internet

The picture is taken from the Internet

In short, the ancient city gate The design and use are the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients. They not only reflect the technical level of the time, but also reflect the tactical and strategic thinking. #F04142;\”>The reason why wooden doors have become mainstream is that they have obvious advantages in flexibility, economy and practicality; while the fire attack strategy has shown huge benefits in some cases Its destructive power, but its limitations also make it not the first choice for siege. I hope that through today’s sharing, you can have a deeper understanding of ancient city gates and draw some wisdom and inspiration from themAfter all, history is always worth savoring and thinking about.