Trench shears
A trench shear (French: Tenaille ) is a frequently built outwork of the bastionary fortification system, which has been regularly built in the fortress moat since the time of the two French fortress builders Vauban and Louis de Cormontaigne (1695–1752) . The trench shear was a low wall with parapet set up for riflemen, which was built free-standing in front of the curtain wall between two bastions in the main trench of a fortress . It had three main tasks: on the one hand, it served the defenders as a trench swipe to be able to line the ditch in front of the two adjacent bastions, and on the other hand as a support for the ravelin that was always in front of it , which could and could be taken under fire from behind thirdly, it was supposed to shield the lower part of the curtain wall immediately behind it against direct fire from the siege artillery, d. that is, it should prevent an effective opening in the curtain wall. The trench scissors had two designs: the "simple trench scissors" had the shape of a simple re-entrant angle (hence the name trench scissors), which was aligned with the facets (i.e. the front sides) of the two adjacent bastions. The "reinforced trench shears" had the layout of a small bastion front, which, however, was also aligned with the two adjacent bastions.
References and comments
- ^ Bernhard von Poten : Concise dictionary of the entire military sciences. 1877, sv fortifications, sv trench shears, sv "trenching"
- ^ Riistow: Military concise dictionary. 1858, sv trench shears
- ↑ Zastrow: History of the permanent fortification. 1839, passim.
literature
- Hartwig Neumann: Fortress architecture and fortress construction technology. Bernard and Graefe, Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-7637-5929-8 .