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84-445: Square or rectangular towers are easy to construct and give a good amount of usable internal space. Their disadvantage is that the corners are vulnerable to mining . Despite this vulnerability, rectangular towers continued to be used, and Muslim military architecture generally favoured them. Round towers, also called drum towers, are more resistant to siege technology such as sappers and projectiles than square towers. The round front

168-631: A Japanese invasion of Australia . There are other military fortifications in coastal Sydney that feature a tunnel warfare system, such as the Georges Head Battery (which was constructed in 1801 and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register in 1999), Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position (which was built in 1877 and became part of the Sydney Harbour defences , where

252-779: A Japanese submarine in June 1942. This is the only place on the mainland of Australia known to have returned fire. The batteries at Shepherds Hill formed an integrated system with the batteries at Fort Scratchley, Fort Wallace at Stockton and at Tomaree on Port Stephens . During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines , the Ilagan Japanese Tunnel was part of a military base built by the Japanese government as headquarters for its soldiers during World War II. In

336-423: A breach is made, the ditch or moat makes exploiting the breach difficult. Defenders could also dig counter mines. From these they could then dig into the attackers' tunnels and sortie into them to either kill the miners or to set fire to the pit-props to collapse the attackers' tunnel. Alternatively they could under-mine the attackers' tunnels and create a camouflet to collapse the attackers' tunnels. Finally if

420-406: A common currency and adopting a uniform system of weights and measures. There may not have been any central archive of state documents. However, the constituent communities of the league enjoyed substantial autonomy. At times the league was unable (or unwilling) to prevent its members from undertaking military actions against states that had treaties with it. The league members were grouped together in

504-428: A considerable number of days the besieged did not discover them carrying the earth away through the shaft; but when the heap of earth thus brought out became too high to be concealed from those inside the city, the commanders of the besieged garrison set to work vigorously digging a trench inside, parallel to the wall and to the stoa which faced the towers. When the trench was made to the required depth, they next placed in

588-572: A crater that afterwards measured 130 metres (430 ft) from rim to rim. Now known as the Pool of Peace, it is large enough to house a 12 m (40 ft) deep lake. On May 10, 1933, Paraguayan troops used a tunnel to attack in the rear of the Bolivian troops. They were victorious. The term tunnel war or tunnel warfare (地道战) was first used for the guerrilla tactic employed by the Chinese in

672-547: A degree of cover and allowed better logistics support . In addition to building underground shelters and covered supply routes for their soldiers, both sides also attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare by tunneling under no man's land and placing explosive charges beneath the enemy's positions. Their efforts in high mountain peaks such as Col di Lana , Lagazuoi and Marmolada were portrayed in fiction in Luis Trenker 's Mountains on Fire film of 1931. On

756-509: A distance of about fifty yards they could be used to detect tunneling. The Kremlin had such tunnels. Since the 16th century, during assault on enemy positions, saps began to be used. The Austrian general of Italian origin Raimondo Montecuccoli (1609–1680) in his classic work on military affairs described methods of destruction and countering of enemy saps. In his paper on "the assaulting of fortresses" Vauban (1633–1707)

840-704: A mine threatening their fortifications. Since tunnels are commonplace in urban areas, tunnel warfare is often a feature, though usually a minor one, of urban warfare. A good example of this was seen in the Syrian Civil War in Aleppo , where in March 2015 rebels planted a large amount of explosives under the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate headquarters. Tunnels are narrow and restrict fields of fire; thus, troops in

924-547: A minor post, became the General's deputy from the late 260s BC, but his exact responsibilities are not clear. The third in command was the Grammateus ( Secretary ). These three officials were Eponymous archons (eponymous magistrates), which is to say that they were named in the dating formula for all decrees of the league. From around 260 BC, there were also seven tamiai (Treasurers) and seven epilektarchoi (Commanders of

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1008-442: A number of tele (districts), which seem to have had administrative and juridical powers of some sort. The league's central administrative apparatus consisted of an assembly, a council, and a number of magistrates. The Ekklesia (Assembly) was open to all citizens of all member communities of the league. The assembly was the ultimate authority within the league, with responsibility for declarations of war and peace, but its power

1092-438: A row along the side of the trench nearest the wall a number of brazen vessels made very thin; and, as they walked along the bottom of the trench past these, they listened for the noise of the digging outside. Having marked the spot indicated by any of these brazen vessels, which were extraordinarily sensitive and vibrated to the sound outside, they began digging from within, at right angles to the trench, another tunnel leading under

1176-441: A straight part of the curtain wall. Corner towers enfilade the two adjoining wall faces. If corner towers are far apart, additional flanking towers may be added between them. Towers in an outer curtain wall are often open at the back. Particularly large towers are often the strongest point of the castle: the keep or the bergfried . As the gate is always a vulnerable point of a castle, towers may be built near it to strengthen

1260-631: A total of 227 mine explosions in one month – one detonation every three hours. Large battles, like the Battle of the Somme in 1916 (see mines on the Somme ) and the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917, were also supported by mine explosions. Well known examples are the mines on the Italian Front laid by Austro-Hungarian and Italian miners, where the largest individual mine contained a charge of 50,000 kilograms (110,000 lb) of blasting gelatin , and

1344-594: A tunnel and place a mine. As well as digging their own tunnels, the military engineers had to listen out for enemy tunnellers. On occasions miners accidentally dug into the opposing side's tunnel and an underground fight took place. When an enemy's tunnel was found it was usually destroyed by placing an explosive charge inside. During the height of the underground war on the Western Front in June 1916, British tunnellers fired 101 mines or camouflets, while German tunnellers fired 126 mines or camouflets. This amounts to

1428-471: A tunnel usually have only a few areas exposed to fire or sight at any one time. They can be part of an extensive labyrinth and have cul-de-sacs and reduced lighting, typically creating a closed-in night combat environment. The Greek historian Polybius , in his Histories , gives a graphic account of mining and counter mining at the Roman siege of Ambracia : The Aetolians ... offered a gallant resistance to

1512-478: Is more resistant than the straight side of a square tower, just as a load-bearing arch . This principle was already understood in antiquity. The horseshoe-shaped (or D-shaped) tower is a compromise that gives the best of a round and a square tower. The semicircular side (the one facing the attacker) could resist siege engines, while the rectangular part at the back gives internal space and a large fighting platform on top. The large towers at Krak des Chevaliers and

1596-506: Is sapping the wall, where engineers would dig at the base of a wall with crowbars and picks. Peter of les Vaux-de-Cernay recounts how at the battle of Carcassonne, during the Albigensian Crusade, "after the top of the wall had been somewhat weakened by bombardment from petraries, our engineers succeeded with great difficulty in bringing a four-wheeled wagon, covered in oxhides, close to the wall, from which they set to work to sap

1680-635: The Battle of Corregidor , the third lateral on the north side from the Malinta Tunnel's east entrance served as the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur and the USAFFE . Malinta Tunnel also served as the seat of government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines . At the vicinity of the tunnel's west entrance in the afternoon of 30 December 1941, Manuel L. Quezon and Sergio Osmeña took their oaths of office as President and Vice-president of

1764-702: The Battle of Cynoscephalae in 197 BC, during the Second Macedonian War . However, it grew increasingly hostile to Roman involvement in Greek affairs and only a few years later sided with Antiochus III , the anti-Roman king of the Seleucid Empire , during the Roman-Syrian War . The defeat of Antiochus in 189 BC robbed the league of its principal foreign ally and made it impossible to stand alone in continued opposition to Rome. The league

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1848-775: The Illowra Battery and Drummond Battery . To the north of Sydney, in Newcastle , the Shepherds Hill military installations , a NSW state heritage-listed site , was built from 1890 to 1940 and consists of a former military gun battery emplacement, a 100 metres (330 ft) long tunnel and an observation post. As part of the strengthening of Newcastle's defense system, various new projects were undertaken at Shepherds Hill during WWII, such as accommodation for troops stationed. Fort Scratchley , which had close ties to Shepherds Hill, responded to an attack on Newcastle by

1932-545: The Philippines campaign (1941–1942) , Philippines President Manuel L. Quezon , General MacArthur, other high-ranking military officers and diplomats and families escaped the bombardment of Manila and were housed in Corregidor 's Malinta Tunnel . Prior to their arrival, Malinta's laterals had served as high command headquarters, hospital and storage of food and arms. In March 1942, several U.S. Navy submarines arrived on

2016-594: The Second Sino-Japanese War . The tunnel systems were fast and easy to construct and enabled a small force to successfully fight superior enemies. One particular tunnel network called the "Ranzhuang tunnel" evolved in the course of resisting Japanese counterinsurgency operations in Hebei . Particularly, the Chinese Communist forces or local peasant resistance used tunnel war tactics against

2100-670: The Siege of Petersburg by the Union Army of the Potomac, a mine made of 3,600 kilograms (8,000 lb) of gunpowder was set off approximately 6 metres (20 ft) under Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside's IX Corps sector. The explosion blew a gap in the Confederate defenses of Petersburg, Virginia , creating a crater 52 metres (170 ft) long, 30 to 37 metres (100 to 120 ft) wide, and at least 9 metres (30 ft) deep. The combat

2184-430: The Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) underground fighting became immense. At first the allies began digging saps without any precautions. After a series of explosions caused by counter mine action the allies increased the depth of the tunnels but began to meet rocky ground and the underground war had to return to higher levels. During the siege Russian sappers dug 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi) of saps and counter mines. During

2268-572: The battles of the Western Pacific , they would maximize their capabilities by establishing a strong point defense, using cave warfare. The first encounter of the US Marines with this new tactic was the island of Peleliu . The invading marines suffered twice as many casualties as on Tarawa , where the old Japanese tactic of defending the beach had been employed. The pinnacle of this form of defense, however, can be found on Iwo Jima , where

2352-536: The gate towers at Harlech are good examples. Armenian castles such as Lampron also favoured this style. A common form is an octagonal tower, used in some bergfrieds and at Castel del Monte in Italy. There are also hybrid shapes. For instance, the keep at Château Gaillard is slightly bent forward, but also has a triangular beak to deflect projectiles. Wall towers, also known as mural towers, provide flanking fire (from crossbows or other projectile weapons) to

2436-532: The tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers concentrated on constructing deep dugouts for troop accommodation. The largest single mines at Messines were at St Eloi , which was charged with 43,400 kilograms (95,600 lb) of ammonal , at Maedelstede Farm, which was charged with 43,000 kg (94,000 lb), and beneath German lines at Spanbroekmolen, which was charged with 41,000 kg (91,000 lb) of ammonal. The Spanbroekmolen mine created

2520-724: The Aetolians alone and in 280 BC, they took control of Heraclea in Trachis , which gave them control over the crucial pass at Thermopylae . In 279 BC, they were victorious in battle against the Gauls , who had invaded Greece and were threatening the sanctuary of Delphi . After their victory they earned the appreciation of the rest of the Greeks and they were admitted as a new member into the Amphictyonic League . In 232 BC,

2604-563: The Aetolians forced them to retreat. In the course of the fourth century, the league offered passive support to more powerful states and was rewarded for it, receiving Aeolis from the Thebans in 367 BC and Naupactus from Philip II of Macedon in 338 BC. Sometime in this century, the Koinon tōn Aitōlōn (League of the Aetolians) was founded, but it is uncertain when. One suggestion is that

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2688-470: The Aetolians took control of Parnassus , including the panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi , which they would continue to control for over a century. Demetrius Poliorcetes launched the Fifth Sacred War , 289-287 BC, in an attempt to remove them, but was defeated and driven from Macedonia altogether with the help of Pyrrhus of Epirus . A Sixth Sacred War , 281 BC, led by Areus I was rebuffed by

2772-467: The Aetolians were not highly regarded by other Greeks, who considered them to be semi-barbaric and reckless. Their League had a complex political and administrative structure, and their armies were easily a match for the other Greek powers. However, during the Hellenistic period , they emerged as a dominant state in central Greece and expanded by the voluntary annexation of several Greek city-states to

2856-523: The Assembly are not clear. It consisted of delegates elected by each of the constituent communities of the league in proportion to their size. By the late third century BC it had around 1500 members - too large for it to have been in continuous session. A small portion of the council's members, known as the apokletoi ("Select-men"), conducted day-to-day business, such as sending and receiving embassies. The league's archons (magistrates) were elected by

2940-513: The Elite), who managed financial and military matters respectively. There were a number of boularchoi (Council Commanders) who seem to have been a steering committee for the Council. When these first appear in the 260s, there were two of them, but by the end of the third century BC they had risen to six or more, presumably as a result of the continued expansion of the league's membership (and thus of

3024-589: The Illyrians under Agron attacked the Aetolians, and managed to take many prisoners and booty. In 229 BC, the Aetolians participated in a naval battle off the island of Paxos in a coalition with Korkyra and the Achaean League , and were defeated by a coalition of Illyrians and Acarnanians ; as a result, the Korkyreans were forced to accept an Illyrian garrison in their city, which was put under

3108-457: The Japanese (and later the Kuomintang during Chinese Civil War ). The tunnels were dug beneath the earth to cover the battlefield with numerous hidden gun holes to make a surprise attack. Entrances usually were hidden beneath a straw mat inside a house, or down a well. This allowed for flexible manoeuvers or exits. The main disadvantage of tunnel war was that usually the Japanese could fill

3192-417: The Japanese engineered the whole Mount Suribachi with many tunnels leading to defensive emplacements, or exits for quick counterattacks. Tunnel warfare by the Japanese forced the US Marines to adopt the "blowtorch and corkscrew" tactics to systematically flush out the Japanese defenders, one cave at a time. In Australia, the demand for protection from air attack became more serious in the early 1940s when there

3276-784: The League. Still, the Aetolian League had to fight against Macedonia and were driven to an alliance with Rome , which resulted in the final conquest of Greece by the Romans. The Aetolians were a recognised ethnic group with a religious centre at Thermos from at least the seventh century BC. During the Peloponnesian War , the Aetolians were initially neutral, but when the Athenians tried to invade Aetolia in 426 BC ,

3360-705: The Philippine Commonwealth in simple ceremonies attended by members of the garrison. On the Korean Peninsula , the underground war reached a massive scale. From experience in the Second World War, the US relied upon aviation. North Korean forces suffered heavy losses from air strikes which obliged them to construct underground shelters. Initially underground fortifications were built independently by individual units and their placement

3444-669: The Romans were themselves on the defensive the large underground aqueduct system was used in the defense of Rome , as well as to evacuate fleeing leaders. The use of tunnels as a means of guerrilla-like warfare against the Roman Empire was also a common practice of the Jewish rebels in Judea during the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 AD). With time the Romans understood that efforts should be made to expose these tunnels. Once an entrance

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3528-407: The Western Front, the main objective of tunnel warfare was to place large quantities of explosives beneath enemy defensive positions. When it was detonated, the explosion would destroy that section of the trench. The infantry would then advance towards the enemy front-line hoping to take advantage of the confusion that followed the explosion of an underground mine. It could take as long as a year to dig

3612-597: The activities of the Tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers on the Western Front. At the beginning of the Somme offensive , the British simultaneously detonated 19 mines of varying sizes beneath the German positions, including two mines that contained 18,000 kilograms (40,000 lb) of explosives. In January 1917, General Plumer gave orders for over 20 mines to be placed under German lines at Messines . Over

3696-486: The assault of the siege artillery and [the Romans], therefore, in despair had recourse to mines and tunnels. Having safely secured the central one of their three works, and carefully concealed the shaft with wattle screens, they erected in front of it a covered walk or stoa about two hundred feet long, parallel with the wall; and beginning digging from that, they carried it on unceasingly day and night, working in relays. For

3780-472: The assembly each year at the Thermica. The chief executive was the strategos (General), who commanded the league's armies, received all diplomatic contacts from other states in first instance, and presided over meetings of the assembly, the council, and the select-men. The office could be held multiple times, but only after an interval of, probably, four years. The hipparchos (Cavalry Commander), originally

3864-490: The battle, and four were outside the area of the offensive. On 17 July 1955, a lightning strike set off one of these four latter mines. There were no human casualties, but one cow was killed. Another of the unused mines is believed to have been found in a location beneath a farmhouse, but no attempt has been made to remove it. The last mine fired by the British in World War I was near Givenchy on 10 August 1917, after which

3948-510: The city, the defenders used large bellows to pump smoke into the tunnels in order to suffocate the intruders. In warfare during the Middle Ages , a "mine" was a tunnel dug to bring down castles and other fortifications. Attackers used this technique when the fortification was not built on solid rock, developing it as a response to stone-built castles that could not be burned like earlier-style wooden forts. A tunnel would be excavated under

4032-758: The command of Demetrius of Pharos. In the Social War , 220-217 BC, the Aetolian League fought against the Kingdom of Macedonia . Philip V of Macedon invaded Aetolia and sacked the city of Thermos as a response to the Aetolians' invasion at the city of Dodona in Epirus. The league was the first Greek ally of the Roman Republic , siding with the Romans during the First Macedonian War , 215-205 BC, and helping to defeat Philip V of Macedon at

4116-424: The crater was formed, but the attackers were eventually forced to withdraw. The increased firepower that came with the use of smokeless powder , cordite and dynamite by the end of the 19th century made it very expensive to build above-ground fortifications that could withstand any attack. As a result, fortifications were covered with earth and eventually were built entirely underground to maximize protection. For

4200-489: The creator of the French School of Fortification gave a theory of mine attack and how to calculate various saps and the amount of gunpowder needed for explosions. As early as 1840 Eduard Totleben and Schilder-Schuldner had been engaged on questions of organisation and conduct of underground attacks. They began to use electric current to disrupt charges. Special boring instruments of complex design were developed. In

4284-447: The defences at this point. In crusader castles, there is often a gate tower , with the gate passage leading through the base of the tower itself. In European castles, it is more common to have flanking towers on either side of the gatehouse. Mining (military) Tunnel warfare is using tunnels and other underground cavities in war. It often includes the construction of underground facilities in order to attack or defend, and

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4368-570: The higher inner walls. A major change took place in the art of tunnel warfare in the 15th century in Italy with the development of gunpowder , since its use reduced the effort required to undermine a wall while also increasing lethality. Ivan the Terrible took Kazan with the use of gunpowder explosions to undermine its walls. Many fortresses built counter mine galleries, "hearing tunnels" which were used to listen for enemy mines being built. At

4452-522: The holes or pour water in to suffocate the soldiers inside the tunnels. This proved to be a major problem but was later solved by installing filters that would consume the water and poisonous gases. It is said that there were even women and children who voluntarily fought in the tunnels. The movie Tunnel War , which is based on the stories about fighting Japanese in tunnels, made tunnel warfare well known in China. More films were soon produced and adapted in

4536-576: The insurgent tribes soon started to change defensive practices, from only local strongholds to using the advantage of wider terrain. Hidden trenches to assemble for surprise attacks were dug, connected via tunnels for secure fallback. In action, often barriers were used to prevent the enemy from pursuing. Roman legions entering the country soon learned to fear this warfare, as the ambushing of marching columns caused high casualties. Therefore, they approached possibly fortified areas very carefully, giving time to evaluate, assemble troops and organize them. When

4620-681: The league to implode. Over the next decade it seems to have been reconstituted and in the later years of Alexander's reign the Aetolians seized Oeniadae against his will. The Aetolian League joined the Athenians in the Lamian war against Antipater which broke out after Alexander's death in 323 BC and continued to oppose Macedonian power throughout the Wars of the Diadochi , participating in invasions of Macedon in 320, 316/5 and 313 BC. Around 301 BC,

4704-530: The league was founded by Epaminondas in 367 BC. Grainger believes that it was founded much later, around the time of the rise of Philip II of Macedon. Archaeology indicates that settlements in Aetolia began to grow in size and complexity over the course of this century. After the death of Philip II in 336 BC, the Aetolians joined the Thebans in opposing Alexander the Great and the stress of their defeat caused

4788-502: The next five months more than 8,000 m (26,000 ft) of tunnel were dug and 450–600 tons of explosive were placed in position. Simultaneous explosion of the mines took place at 3:10 a.m. on 7 June 1917. The blast killed an estimated 10,000 soldiers and was so loud it was heard in London. The near simultaneous explosions created 19 large craters and ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions of all time. Two mines were not ignited in 1917 because they had been abandoned before

4872-486: The north side of Corregidor. The Navy brought in mail, orders, and weaponry. During the re-taking of the island by U.S. forces in 1945, Japanese soldiers who had been trapped in the tunnel after the entrance was blocked as a result of gunfire from USS  Converse  (DD-509) began committing suicide by detonating explosives within the tunnel complex the night of 23 February 1945. The collapsed laterals resulting from these explosions have never been excavated. During

4956-445: The other magistrates at the Thermica, but their relative rank is not clear. The Aetolian League acquired a reputation for piracy and brigandage . Though some historians recognize a pro- Achaean bias in the portrayal of the League by Polybius , many modern historians also accept his portrayal as largely justified. For example, Walbank is explicit in seeing the Aetolians as systematically using piracy to supplement their income due to

5040-477: The outer defenses either to provide access into the fortification or to collapse the walls. These tunnels would normally be supported by temporary wooden props as the digging progressed. Once the excavation was complete, the attackers would collapse the wall or tower being undermined by filling the excavation with combustible material that, when lit, would burn away the props leaving the structure above unsupported and thus liable to collapse. A tactic related to mining

5124-409: The purpose of firing artillery and machine guns , emplacements had loopholes . Mining saw a particular resurgence as a military tactic during the First World War , when army engineers attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare by tunneling under no man's land and laying large quantities of explosives beneath the enemy's trenches. As in siege warfare, tunnel warfare was possible due to

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5208-407: The same period the allies dug 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi). The Russians expended 12 tons of gunpowder in the underground war while the allies used 64 tons. These figures show that the Russians tried to create a more extensive network of tunnels and carried out better targeted attacks with only minimal use of gunpowder. The allies used outdated fuses so that many charges failed to go off. Conditions in

5292-427: The same setting. After the war, the Ranzhuang tunnel site became a key heritage preservation unit promoting patriotism and national defense education. Being a famous war tourism site in China, it attracted tens of thousands of visitors each year. Most of the villagers were working in tourism service industry, an industry worth US$ 700,000 each year. The first to copy tunnel warfare were the Japanese themselves. In

5376-401: The siting of a castle could make mining difficult. The walls of a castle could be constructed either on solid rock or on sandy or water-logged land, making it difficult to dig mines. A very deep ditch or moat could be constructed in front of the walls, as was done at Pembroke Castle, or even artificial lakes, as was done at Kenilworth Castle. This makes it more difficult to dig a mine, and even if

5460-412: The size of the Council). From 278 the league sent delegates to the Amphictyonic League (Delphic Amphictyony), gradually increasing over time until the league held a majority of the seats on the council, which increasingly became an instrument of Aetolian power projection. From the 260s, the secretary of the Amphictyonic council was always an Aetolian. These delegates seem to have been elected along with

5544-471: The static nature of the fighting. On the Western and Italian Front during the First World War , the military employed specialist miners to dig tunnels. On the Italian Front, the high peaks of the Dolomites range were an area of fierce mountain warfare and mining operations . In order to protect their soldiers from enemy fire and the hostile alpine environment, both Austro-Hungarian and Italian military engineers constructed fighting tunnels which offered

5628-472: The surface, the many false targets (bunkers, trenches and decoy entrances to the tunnel system) made it difficult to detect true targets, forcing US forces to waste ammunition. Directly under the surface, spacious barracks were built, allowing whole units to be quickly brought to the surface for a short time and as quickly returned to shelter underground. Aetolian League The Aetolian (or Aitolian ) League ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν )

5712-404: The tunnels were severe: wax candles often went out, sappers fainted due to stale air, ground water flooded tunnels and counter mines. The Russians repulsed the siege and started to dig tunnels under the allies fortifications. The Russian success in the underground war was recognised by the allies. The Times noted that the laurels for this kind of warfare must go to the Russians. In 1864, during

5796-405: The tunnels. Eventually, when Philip V announced that large parts of the town-walls were undermined, the citizens surrendered without delay." Polybius also describes the Seleucids and Parthians employing tunnels and counter-tunnels during the siege of Sirynx. The oldest known sources about employing tunnels and trenches for guerrilla-like warfare are Roman . After the Revolt of the Batavi ,

5880-429: The underground rooms and tunnels were used to store ammunition), Henry Head Battery (which was constructed in 1892 and was re-employed during World War II to defend the approaches to Botany Bay ), the Middle Head Fortifications (a heritage-listed fort built in 1801), Malabar Battery (a coastal defense battery built in 1943) and the smaller Steel Point Battery . In Wollongong , just south of Sydney, there exists

5964-647: The use of existing natural caves and artificial underground facilities for military purposes. Tunnels can be used to undermine fortifications and slip into enemy territory for a surprise attack, while it can strengthen a defense by creating the possibility of ambush, counterattack and the ability to transfer troops from one portion of the battleground to another unseen and protected. Also, tunnels can serve as shelter from enemy attack. Since antiquity, sappers have used mining against walled cites, fortresses, castles or other strongly held and fortified military positions. Defenders have dug counter-mines to attack miners or destroy

6048-444: The wall". As in the siege of Carcassonne, defenders worked to prevent sapping by dumping anything they had down on attackers who tried to dig under the wall. Successful sapping usually ended the battle, since the defenders would no longer be able to defend their position and would surrender, or the attackers could enter the fortification and engage the defenders in close combat. Several methods resisted or countered undermining. Often

6132-497: The wall, so calculated as to exactly hit the enemy's tunnel. This was soon accomplished, for the Romans had not only brought their mine up to the wall, but had under-pinned a considerable length of it on either side of their mine; and thus the two parties found themselves face to face. The Aetolians then countered the Roman mine with smoke from burning feathers with charcoal. - In essence an early form of chemical warfare . Another extraordinary use of siege-mining in ancient Greece

6216-423: The walls were breached, they could either place obstacles in the breach, for example a cheval de frise to hinder a forlorn hope , or construct a coupure . The great concentric ringed fortresses, like Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey , were designed so that the inner walls were ready-built coupures: if an attacker succeeded in breaching the outer walls, he would enter a killing field between the lower outer walls and

6300-511: The whole of central Greece with the exception of Attica and Boeotia . At its peak, the league's territory included Locris , Malis , Dolopes, parts of Thessaly , Phocis , and Acarnania . In the latter part of its power, certain Greek city-states joined the Aetolian League such as the Arcadian cities of Mantineia , Tegea , Phigalia and Kydonia on Crete . During the classical period

6384-537: Was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered in Aetolia in Central Greece . It was probably established during the early Hellenistic era , in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League . Two annual meetings were held at Thermon and Panaetolika. The league occupied Delphi from 290 BC and steadily gained territory until, by the end of the 3rd century BC, it controlled

6468-553: Was accordingly known as the Battle of the Crater . From this propitious beginning, everything deteriorated rapidly for the Union attackers. Unit after unit charged into and around the crater, where soldiers milled in confusion. The Confederates quickly recovered and launched several counterattacks led by Brig. Gen. William Mahone . The breach was sealed off, and Union forces were repulsed with severe casualties. The horror of this engagement

6552-565: Was chaotic. Subsequently, underground fortifications were united into a single large system. The length of the front was 250 kilometres (160 mi) while the length of tunnels was 500 kilometres (310 mi); for every kilometre of front, there were two kilometres of tunnels. A total of 2,000,000 cubic metres (71,000,000 cu ft) of rocks were extracted. North Korea developed a theory of underground warfare. Manpower, warehouses and small calibre guns were completely housed underground making them less vulnerable to air strikes and artillery. On

6636-596: Was discovered fire was lit, either smoking out the rebels or suffocating them to death. Well-preserved evidence of mining and counter-mining operations has been unearthed at the fortress of Dura-Europos , which fell to the Sassanians in 256/7 AD during Roman–Persian wars . Mining was a siege method used in ancient China from at least the Warring States (481–221 BC) period forward. When enemies attempted to dig tunnels under walls for mining or entry into

6720-478: Was during Philip V of Macedon 's siege of the little town of Prinassos , according to Polybius , "the ground around the town were extremely rocky and hard, making any siege-mining virtually impossible. However, Philip ordered his soldiers during the cover of night collect earth from elsewhere and throw it all down at the fake tunnel's entrance, making it look like the Macedonians were almost finished completing

6804-427: Was forced to sign a peace treaty with Rome that made it a subject ally of the republic. Although it continued to exist in name, the power of the league was broken by the treaty and it never again constituted a significant political or military force. The league had a federal structure, which could raise armies and conduct foreign policy on a common basis. It also implemented economic standardization, levying taxes, using

6888-481: Was limited by the infrequency with which it met. Two meetings took place a year, one at the Thermica festival which was held at Thermos on the autumnal equinox and another in spring at the Panaetolica festival which took place at a different site each year. Emergency meetings could also be called. The exact competencies of the Council, referred to as a boula or synedrion in different documents, relative to

6972-476: Was portrayed in the Charles Frazier novel, and subsequent Anthony Minghella movie, Cold Mountain . During the Siege of Vicksburg , in 1863, Union troops led by General Ulysses S. Grant tunnelled under the Confederate trenches and detonated a mine beneath the 3rd Louisiana Redan on June 25, 1863. The subsequent assault, led by General John A. Logan, gained a foothold in the Confederate trenches where

7056-556: Was significant axis naval activity in Australian waters and when three Japanese midget submarines entered and attacked the Sydney Harbour in 1942. In Sydney in 1941, the Royal Australian Navy excavated a series of tunnels to shelter over 2,500 men working at the naval base from air raids , and as well as to transport guns and ammunition within the tunnels after the Australian government and people expected

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