heavily armoured infantry. Both units were equipped with bows, pikes and swords. The army also contained a mobile contingent of cavalry that featured mounted archers and lancers. Slingers, archers on foot and chariots driven by three-man crews were further components of the main army. Also attached to the army were units of the King's staff officers, intelligence personnel, interpreters and scribes. Engineers accompanied the army to build bridges, boats, rafts, roads, and to construct ramps for use during a siege. Breasted (1944) states Assyrian forces were the first large armies to be extensively equipped with iron weapons. Assyrians were especially skilled in besieging cities, using battering rams to break down enemy walls. Siege towers on wheels were further used to pummel enemy cities.
             During its military campaigns, the Assyrians had an effective transport and supply system in place to provide for its army. The Assyrian commissariat carefully calculated everything from daily rations for its troops to the hay and straw needed to feed its horses. While captured enemy supplies were often used to feed the troops during military forays, the Assyrians also proved to be adept military planners to ensure that its army was well provisioned if such supplies were not available.
             A powerful army allowed the Assyrians to control the trade routes that ran from Iran and beyond to the west. Trueman (1964) states that because of Assyria's strategic position on the Fertile Crescent, only constant warfare or an empire prepared for war could maintain these east-west trade highways. Under the reign of Asasnirai II, a system of fortified posts was constructed to protect these trade routes. This practice was continued through the New-Assyr
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