m horseback, and, advancing with them on foot
through the midst of the batteries, took the town; nor do we learn that
he sustained any considerable loss from the enemy's fire. So that, as I
have said, he who has to defend himself in a small town, when his walls
are battered down and he has no room to retire behind other works, and
has only his artillery to trust to, is at once undone.

But even where the town you defend is a great one, so that you have room
to fall back behind new works, artillery is still, by a long way, more
useful for the assailant than for the defender. For to enable your
artillery to do any hurt to those without, you must raise yourself with
it above the level of the ground, since, if you remain on the level, the
enemy, by erecting any low mound or earth-work, can so secure himself
that it will be impossible for you to touch him. But in raising yourself
above the level of the ground, whether by extending yourself along
the gallery of the walls, or otherwise, you are exposed to two
disadvantages; for, first, you cannot there bring into position guns of
the same size or range as he who is without can bring to bear against
you, since it is impossible to work large guns in a confined space;
and, secondly, although you should succeed in getting your guns into
position, you cannot construct such strong and solid works for their
protection as those can who are outside, and on level ground, and who
have all the room and every other advantage which they could desire. It
is consequently impossible for him who defends a town to maintain his
guns in position at any considerable height, when those who are outside
have much and powerful artillery; while, if he place it lower, it
becomes, as has been explained, to a great extent useless. So that in
the end the defence of the city has to be effected, as in ancient times,
by hand to hand fighting, or else by means of the smaller kinds of
fire-arms, from which if the defender derive some slight advantage, it
is balanced by the injury he sustains from the great artillery of his
enemy, whereby the walls of the city are battered down and almost buried
in their ditches; so that when it comes once more to an encounter at
close quarters, by reason of his walls being demolished and his ditches
filled up, the defender is now at a far greater disadvantage than he was
formerly. Wherefore I repeat that these arms are infinitely more useful
for him who attacks a town than for hi