Medieval siege 中世纪攻城战-1

Knights¹ in shining armor, charging each other in great pitched battles, that is the popular view of warfare² in the Middle Ages. In reality, most medieval conflicts involved the attacking of castles, and mounted knights were not much use against stone walls. A siege against a castle could take weeks, even months. The attacking army pitted against a well-defended garrison³ within. By the end of the 13th century, the science of defensive⁴ architecture had reached a peak. Stone walls were built thicker and taller than ever before, and archers⁵ could easily pick off advancing attackers. To further frustrate⁶ attempts at breaching⁷ the walls, castles were situated⁸ on rocky crags, or surrounded by water. But every advance in castle defense⁹ drove attackers to devise better siege weapons.

"During the Middle Ages, castles kept improving, they kept improving as weapons of attack got better, and tactics was this eternal balance between attack and defense."

"Heave!"

Two hundred years before cannon¹⁰ appeared in Europe, chroniclers make reference to what appears to be the ultimate 13th century's siege weapon: an ingenious new form of heavy artillery¹¹ that flung huge stone balls with such destructive power that castle walls were reduced to rubble¹². But no ancient weapon of this type has survived. Were such claims gross exaggerations, or did such a weapon really exist?

To answer these questions, NOVA brings together a team of experts in medieval warfare, who believe they know the secret.

"It's chaos¹³, it's Wednesday I think, I don't have a clue whether or not we'll finish."
Their task, to build siege machines capable of destroying a castle wall at a range of about 200 yards.

"Well, I think that the thing will smash it up, nicely yeah."

With just two weeks to meet the challenge, a siege mentality¹⁴ quickly sets in. No modern builders have ever managed to do this before.

"...balance. Once I got it in, the whole thing could twist and tip quite alarmingly."

"one more draw, one more draw."

This interplay between defenders¹⁵ and siegers, it's still up in the air, we could still take it, then again we could fail. It's sort of "in the lap of the gods".

1 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

2 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

3 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

4 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

5 archers   

n.弓箭手，射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers. 第二天晚上，西勒顿？杰克逊老先生来和阿切尔家人一起吃饭。 来自辞典例句
• Week of Archer: Double growth for Archers and Marksmen. 射手周：弓箭手与弩手（人类）产量加倍。 来自互联网

6 frustrate   

v.使失望；使沮丧；使厌烦

参考例句：

• But this didn't frustrate Einstein.He was content to go as far as he could.但这并没有使爱因斯坦灰心，他对能够更深入地研究而感到满意。
• They made their preparations to frustrate the conspiracy.他们作好准备挫败这个阴谋。

7 breaching   

攻破( breach的过去式 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
• Third, an agency can abuse its discretion by breaching certain principles of judge-made law. 第三，行政机关会因违反某些法官制定的法律原则而构成滥用自由裁量权。

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

11 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

12 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

13 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

14 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

15 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》