Was The Siege Of Ath The Perfect Siege? (1697)

A masterpiece that every besieging army hopes to emulate

(OpenAI)

Sieges are tricky business in warfare and one that both sides are often eager to avoid when possible. Some sieges can drag on for decades, like the Siege of Cueta, which lasted a staggering 33 years. Other sieges, like those waged at Leningrad and Stalingrad during World War II, were devastating to both sides and left millions of people dead. Sieges are risky because it is hard to know exactly how long they will take to resolve. A long siege can benefit the defenders or the attackers, depending on the situation in the surrounding countryside.

For the defenders, a successful siege is any siege that leaves their city intact. Defenders will hold out for months or years in order to achieve victory. For attackers, a successful siege is one in which the city falls. However, for the attackers, a fast siege is preferable to a long one. Besieging armies are expensive and they are immobile, tied down in a battle of attrition that prevents them from moving on to better positions elsewhere. For this reason, a fast siege is much preferable to a slow one for the attacking armies, but fast sieges in history have been few and far between.

Over the long history of warfare, one siege stands out as one of the best examples of a victory by…