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296 THE SIEGE OF POET AETHUR
that besieging armies have certain advantages
which to a great extent make up for the greater
difficulty of their task. The most important of
these is that they always have it in their power to
choose their own time. They can take troops
which have had hard work, or suffered heavy
losses, out of the fighting line, and send them to
resting camps outside of the enemy’s fire to
recuperate. They are the whole time receiving
reinforcements to fill the gaps in the ranks and
infuse new blood and fresh spirits into the battle-
worn army. The attacking party has the initiative ;
he can force the enemy to fight when circum-
stances are in his favour, when everything is pre-
pared, and his men well rested and ready for the
fray, while the defenders have to accept battle
whenever it suits their adversaries ;
they can
never allow themselves a real rest, unconcernedly
and free from anxiety ;
they must ever be on the
alert, ready to meet any move on the part of the
besiegers, and they are never reinforced ;
they see
one comrade after another fall out of the steadily
dwindling ranks, and there is never a new face to
cheer them and help them to bear their burden and
ease the heavy strain.
These advantages, more or less common to all
offensive operations, are still more emphasized
during a siege. The attacks are made by saps,
which place the besiegers in nearly as favourable
a position as that of the defenders. The latter
are compelled, in order to stop or obstruct
the progress of the attacking forces, to con-
stantly take the offensive and deliver counter-
attacks which must be carried out across the
open, so that the roles of the opponents to some
extent are reversed. With his superior forces, if
he does not try to rush matters, but advances
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