> 📗 The following story stands alone and can be read without any knowledge of my prior works, but does involve story elements that appeared previously in [The Apothecary's Daughter](https://eleanorkonik.com/dakhma/).  The dirt road forked about about a league past the edge of the village; a small signpost was the only hint of anything worth visiting in the mountains beyond. "Feels weird to leave town without offering to replace their wall," Irella told her guard. "You said you wanted to get back to the Temple as soon as possible," he reminded her. "Besides, town like this couldn't handle a siege anyway." Irella's smile was as stony as the mountains that birthed her. "Sometimes it's not about surviving the siege, Careigh, it's about making sure no one dares attack at all." --- ## Afterword [The Krak des Chevaliers](https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1229/) in what is now Syria is generally considered one of the most formidable castles in the world. It sits atop a 2,130 foot high peak in the Homs Gap. Although the name means ‘Fortress of the Kurds’ — Kurdish Muslims had a castle and settlement there in the 11th century — the Krak des Chevaliers was constructed by the European Crusaders in the Holy Land in the twelfth century. Following the (successful) [First Crusade from 1096 to 1099](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jerusalem-captured-in-first-crusade) and the establishment of a number of Crusader states such as the Kingdom of Jerusalem, several orders of military monks emerged in the Levant. One of these, [the Knights Hospitaller](https://www.livescience.com/knights-hospitaller.html), was granted the former Muslim fort here, which they promptly began adding ever more elaborate fortifications to. By the late 1160s it was virtually impenetrable. Not only would an attacking army have to surmount a large hilltop before they ever made it to the castle, once they reached it they were confronted with an outer castle and an inner castle which was on another elevated level again. Entrance was along an elevated bridge which could be destroyed to prevent besiegers from getting any access in this way. The keep was also provided with extensive store rooms where huge amounts of supplies were kept — enough to sustain the inhabitants of this castle city for months on end if need be. As a result of its impregnability, the Hospitallers — who numbered some 2,000 knights at the Krak at the height of their power — [were able to dominate the surrounding country](https://www.worldhistory.org/Krak_Des_Chevaliers/). They exacted large amounts of tribute from Christians and Muslims in this portion of western Syria. When the fortunes of the Crusaders elsewhere began to decline in the 1180s (the Muslim warlord, [Saladin, recaptured Jerusalem in 1187](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1553/saladins-conquest-of-jerusalem-1187-ce/)) the resurgent Muslims of the region did not even attempt to seize the Krak, believing it to be unassailable. They were mostly right. In the end the Krak des Chevaliers only fell eventually in 1271 to [the Muslim commander, Baibars](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Baybars-I), after he tricked the garrison into believing they had received an order from the Grand Master of the Hospitallers commanding them to surrender. Thus, the Krak des Chevaliers never actually fell to a siege and [has a claim to being the world’s most impregnable fortress.](https://www.thetravel.com/what-to-know-of-krak-des-chevaliers/) Of course, even back in the Greek days, polities were usually conquered by internal betrayal due to class warfare, not effective sieges. Often armies would ravage the countryside, which was effective at starving a city and forcing them to fight, as most people in a polity were farmers who lived beyond the city walls rather than necessarily being city-dwellers. Phillip II of Macedon and a few others were famous for essentially saying that they took more cities with gold and sweet words than the sword. The Spartan general Brasidas, for example, focused more on achieving his goals than showing off — [he captured more Athenian cities through cunning than battle](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/sparta-much-more-army-warriors-180978583/). That said, the capital of Austria, Vienna, has been besieged many times. It was threatened by the Protestant powers during the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) and it was occupied in March 1938 by Nazi Germany in the infamous _Anschluss_. After the Ottoman Turks [conquered Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1453](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1180/1453-the-fall-of-constantinople/), they turned their attentions towards pushing further north-west in Europe towards cities like Belgrade, Buda, Pest and Vienna. Eventually in 1526, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent inflicted a massive defeat against the Kingdom of Hungary at the [Battle of Mohács in Hungary](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Battle_of_Moh%C3%A1cs). This opened the way for the Turks to besiege Vienna itself and possibly expand into Central Europe [in 1529](https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Siege_of_Vienna). The Sultan brought upwards of 150,000 troops against an Austrian garrison of little more than 20,000 men. Still, the siege did not go as planned. Despite being outnumbered seven to one the Austrians had prepared extremely well. The city gates and walls had been blocked and reinforced. Trap pits had been dug in the countryside surrounding the city and the Austrians had more advanced guns and cannons than their Turkish adversaries. They  also devastated the countryside around Vienna — the Turks very quickly realized that they would have insufficient food for a long siege. After just 18 days, Sultan Suleiman ordered the abandonment of the siege. --- 📗 If you found this interesting, you might also like my essay about how [wars are won in the hearts of men](https://eleanorkonik.com/the-offer/) %% ( [[2021-08-18 The Offer (DRAFT)]] ) %%, and not on the fields of battle. 💚 If you learned something or just enjoyed this edition, consider forwarding it to a friend and encouraging them to [sign up](https://eleanorkonik.com/membership/) for more very short stories and their afterwords. ⚔️ Do you know of any ancient attempts at deterring attacks through a preemptive show of force? Please reach out — I'd love to hear about it, either via email or in [a comment](https://eleanorkonik.com/siege/#cove-comments) %% ( [[2022-05-25 Sedge]] ) %% where other readers can see.