An army marches on its stomach
or a few words about food

Water is essential to people’s and animal’s lives but in fortressed water was also indispensable for extinguishing fires and cooling cannon muzzles in the course of intensive firing. Lack of water in a fortress or purposeful poisoning of fortress water (with ergot or dead human or animal bodies) usually spelt the end of defence. That is why there was a large number of wells in a fortress. Since it was obvious that some parts of a fortress might have to defend themselves for a long time independently, there were usually several wells in one fortification facility. If it was impossible to make a well, tanks were built to collect spring and rain water. The latter was often collected on a large area and filtered. Wells and tanks were located at sites shielded from firing and easily accessible to the crew. We should remember that man can survive without water only several days and symptoms of dehydration include not only thirst but also drowsiness and languidness which affect soldiers’ efficiency. Lack of water in the body disturbs the functioning of all its organs as water is a constituent of all parts of our body with our brain containing 75% of water, bones 22% and kidneys 83%. Loss of 20% of water causes death.