In the 1791 the Jacobin revolutionary Jean Paul Marat fled into the Sewerage From Paris While he fled from his enemies and probably contracted or aggravated the skin disease in these fetid depths, he was forced to spend most of his time immersed in a healing bath. The very place where he would be murdered Charlotte Corday to then become the subject of a famous painting by Jacques Louis David. In fiction there were also places in the sewers of the French capital Jean Valjeanthe protagonist of The wretched From Victor Hugo: escaped – he and Marius – death on the barricades with the police at his heels and treacherous quicksand waiting for him. The same sewers provided refuge for Church members over a century later Resistance during the’Nazi occupation and they served as headquarters in the last days of fighting.
The world below to surprise the enemy
The “World Below” it was in a more or less recent past Battlefield invisible, where thousands of men found safety and death at the front. Natural and artificial tunnels in which to hide, keep watch or surprise Enemy. Invisibility as a strategy, darkness as an additional weapon. It happened in pairs World WarsIn Vietnam fifty years ago, in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and already in the past middle East. And the tunnels were dug in Palestinian strip – also exploited by in recent years Hamas escaping the Israeli “eyes” – will become the most difficult theater of war for the IDF, the Israeli army, during the periodland invasion: a network so vast that it has been renamed “Gaza Metro”.
The caves during the world wars
THE tunnel Incidentally, the streets dug by Islamist militiamen are nothing more than a further development of the underground streets of Paris’ waste and sewage routes caves which the soldiers often resorted to during the war First World War: Observation points, but also tactically advantageous positions for the artillery, many caves in the high mountains became real fortifications for the Italian troops and Austrians. There Pečinka Cavetoday on Slovenian territory, was used by both sides as a military refuge during their stay Second World War hosted formations Partisans. In the same area is the Lojzova Cave In 1916 and 1917 it became a three-story warehouse that could accommodate up to a thousand soldiers. Because, aside from the humidity and the smell, there’s not much difference between the tunnels of a cave and those of a sewer when it comes to defense and offense.
The “Rat War” in Stalingrad
Through the sewers, during which the Germans of the Sixth Army a Stalingrad they called Rat war (“Rat War”), the Soviet infantry began to attack the Reich troops from behind: bloody night attacks destroyed German morale and also robbed them of sleep. Even when the Germans attacked, the Soviet defenders threw Ambushes – coming from those underground tunnels – that separated them tank from that infantry Support. According to the British historian Antony Beevorthe soldiers ofRed ArmyThey were protected by the ruins of buildings and could take refuge in the sewers. They liked to invent devices to kill the Germans, including Booby traps and absolutely unpredictable sniper rifle. The answer – effective but not decisive – has been confided flamethrowera fearsome weapon for clearing out sewers and otherwise inaccessible hiding places.
The hell of Azov Valley
It was not a cave or a sewer, but a fortress within a city Azov Valley Steel Plant This allowed the Ukrainians to withstand the siege by the Russian invaders for almost three months in 2022: the huge complex made it almost impossible to locate Kiev forces and had buildings that were difficult to destroy with conventional artillery. Additionally, it contained an underground tunnel system that allowed for both defense and effectiveness Attacks against the attackers. The result was that the Russia It was decided to carry out a complete blockade of the steelworks area, thereby implicitly admitting its own territory inability to physically grasp the complex.
The salt mines of Soledar
The salt mines are like caves or underground tunnels Soledarin Donetsk Oblast nearby BakhmutFor several months – between August 2022 and January 2023 – they, together with the mercenaries of, were at the center of clashes between the Ukrainian forces on the one hand and the Russian ones PMC Wagner on the other. The dimensions of the Mines they are cyclopean, with 201 kilometers from tunnels to one depth of 288 meters and many rooms as high as a ten-story apartment building. Her capture by Prigozhin’s men came at the expense of Thousands of victims and they often force Russian attackers to move over piles of corpses of dead comrades.
Hezbollah’s tunnels in the rock
Not a cave, let alone a sewer, but a tunnel that the Israeli forces faced in the border area on January 13, 2019 Lebanon: to be precise, the largest and most sophisticated, discovered at the end of a six-week operation that made it possible to find it six galleries dug out Hezbollah between the land of cedars and the Israeli state. I had electric lightinga system of binaries for moving devices a system of Garbage disposal and high quality stairs. Roles of Barbed Wire And Explosives They were placed to prevent unauthorized passage of God’s Party from these tunnels dug into the hard rock.
The 34 destroyed tunnels in Gaza have already been destroyed
Instead, the tunnel in which the July 7, 2014 Seven Hamas fighters died in an explosion nearby Khan Yunisaccording to the IDF, for the accidental detonation of their own ammunitionat the start of what took place over six weeks in the summer of this year First war in Gaza. At the end of the Flash conflict 34 tunnels was destroyed: one hundred kilometers the expansion and a third of it with a branch on Israeli territory. Two years later, Hamas sources said, the terrorist organization seized power with a “Coup” on the Strip in 2007 – would have built an extensive network again double from the of North Vietnamese during the conflict of the 1960s and 1970s. The access points to the tunnels are hidden in buildings, such as: Private houses or Mosquesor disguised by bush or even in simple ones Chicken coopswhich prevents them from being detected via aerial photos or Drones.
The coming urban war
The tunnels are usually at a depth of between 20 and 30 meters and are on average around two meters high and one meter wide. They are equipped with lights, power grid and sometimes rails for material transport as well as booby traps improvised explosive devices. In November 2022, the United Nations Emergency Relief Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees found a tunnel under one Primary school managed by the agency and strongly protested against the existence of such a structure: “A serious violation of neutrality the agency and a violation of international standards This exposes children and agency employees to significant security risks.” The tunnels provided Hamas with a effective means to counteract that Air sovereignty Israeli, as well as hiding rocket launcher and allow access to Israeli territory. For this reason we can say that they form thestrategic goal most important for the Israeli response attack October 7th massacrebut also that they will be the best defense structure for the Islamist militiamen during the Urban war. Whether civilian or military, most of the fallen will lose their lives in and around the tunnels.