My Grand Refutation to the General Counter-Arguments Made Against Me(Cont'd)
Sadly, there are still some counterarguments for my refutations.
Since the artilleries cannot destroy the lower Great Wall of Minas Tirith, why would the Gondorians waste time and resources to take care of any artilleries of their own? The correct answer, like always, should have been easily understood to readers from the beginning. Without artilleries, there are still things that are very dangerous in Middle Earth; anything can happen and having extra range, especially in a life or death struggle, is exceptionally necessary.
False pride cannot explain Gondorian behaviors, unless false pride means “sub-human intelligence”.
Gondor has been aware of the Haradrims and their Mumakils for an exceptionally long time before the War of Ring. And it was known to most people that the Mumakils were roaming openly in Ithilien, threatening Gondor. Indeed, the Mumakils were one of the animals leading the assault on Minas Tirith. Description for the height of such creatures varies. However, when adding their height and that of the towers on their back, the Gondorian Archer’s advantage in height disappears to nothing.
The Haradrims can afford huge casualties; the Gondorians cannot. Thousands of arrows later, and the Oliphaunts might feel a bit irritated. Meanwhile, the Haradrims rained death upon the Gondorians, all before the orcs and trolls even reach the walls. Only Fools do not want artilleries in such a scenario. With artilleries, cheap stones can crack the skull, break the spine, or knock out the pillars supporting the towers of the Mumakil. Sure, I might be overestimating here, and the stone might cause nothing but irritation.
But at least the beasts were irritated before the Haradrim can even rain death upon the poor Gondorian archers. The archers of Gondor can then focus on what archery is most efficient doing: killing masses of orcs.
But let’s continue assuming that the Gondorians like to waste arrows. As implied, there is another tough type of creatures, and it would be the trolls. After the Mumakils were finally irritated enough to go insane and trample on some forces of Mordor, the trolls rushed forward. With abundant arrows they are already tough enough to kill,and the poor Gondorians have expended most of their arrows. Although the lower walls cannot be broken, it can be climbed over. Needless to say trolls in close quarter combat, a type of warfare in cities, are very dangerous. If killed, they can still win by collapsing on you. These large creatures could have been shot down beyond arrow range and before they could reach the wall. The incentives for High -Tech Artilleries grow exceptionally strong. To reiterate, only Fools do not want artilleries in such a scenario.
The final and greatest point on the subject of incentives would be this: round stones are actually cheap to produce and do not require great resources. Please watch the video below. You may skip to 1:34 minutes and watch up to 7:23 minutes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn2wbZow8cw
As you will see, it requires only one person to carve out a 57 lbs stone in just a few days. Amazingly, a 57 lbs (26 kgs) stone might be even cheaper to produce than a single arrow!!! And no, the artilleries themselves need not be more expensive than bows. Although requiring more materials, certain artilleries can be built within a year, while certain bows needed 2 to 3 years to dry out. The incentives for the Gondorians to prioritize strong artilleries before any other weapons is now indescribable.
Only the most foolish of Fools do not want artilleries in such a scenario.
.................................................. .................................................. .
I have pretty much refuted the arguments that, because of their strong walls, the Gondorians have no incentives to build artilleries. When the Gondorians are so stupendously outnumbered, they have every incentive to increase range.
But what about the problem of space? I have to say that this is not a problem for my arguments at all. Most of the population has been evacuated or simply uninhabited from earlier periods. Obviously prudent steps should have been taken by tearing down non-essential buildings. I am not talking only about removing fire threats from the engines of Mordor. There are also accidental fire threats that could happen from the inside as well. Also, if the orcs managed to climb or break in, you do not want these evil beings to be sheltered from the arrows of the above levels. Certainly, some buildings need to be spared, but I believe that a lot of space could be created. Of course, Minas Tirith might not look pretty once Gondor wins the war, but Gondor would have to win first. If artilleries cannot be placed on the walls, then they can be placed on the newly created “ground” of each level. Since the “ground” rises higher at every level, the effect is still the same as the artilleries being placed on top of the walls.
One question remains about the problem of space. Can artilleries be placed on the top of the Ship Rock? Tolkien did not explicitly state whether or not artilleries were posted there. However, the sheer amount of evidence support my position that they were indeed posted there. Before continuing on, let us look at the quote below.
Quote:
Minas Tirith
For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved way that climbed towards the Citadel turned first this way and then that across the face of the hill. And each time that it passed the line of the Great Gate it went through an arched tunnel, piercing a vast pier of rock whose huge out thrust bulk divided in two all the circles of the City save the first. For partly in the primeval shaping of the hill, partly by the mighty craft and labour of old, there stood up from the rear of the wide court behind the Gate a towering bastion of stone, its edge sharp as a ship-keel facing east. Up it rose, even to the level of the topmost circle, and there was crowned by a battlement; so that those in the Citadel might, like mariners in a mountainous ship, look from its peak sheer down upon the Gate seven hundred feet below.
|
Other than the problem of space, there is also a concern about whether or not the rock can handle the forces created by the artillery pieces. Thankfully for me, sheer evidence supported the opinion that it most likely can handle the ordeal. The rock was already securely there, and there was also work on it by a mighty craft. These special craftsmen were most likely the same ones that built the mighty Lower Wall.
But even without the explanation of “magical craftsmen”, there are plenty of places in the world today where heavy items are safely placed on what seems like precarious lands. One such example would be Christ the Redeemer, which was built while Tolkien was alive.
