Original subtitles

[Steven] Ominous destruction

on a Welsh hillside.

It's hard to believe that something could have

taken out that whole middle section.

[Steven] A deceptively peaceful gateway to hell.

This was a real contrast to

what many of them knew was to come.

[Steven] And a baffling ancient wonder

in the new world.

You have all of these massive arches

You have all of these massive arches

that really just dominate the landscape.

[Steven] Decaying relics,

ruins of lost worlds,

sites haunted by the past.

Their secrets waiting to be revealed.

In San Francisco Bay,

a cluster of relics sits marooned

on a hilly island.

You'll come across what look like

defensive structures,

and you'll see in some areas there were gun emplacements.

Clearly this was a place with, you know,

great military or naval significance.

But when was it used and who was it working against?

[Steven] Elsewhere a series of bucolic structures

[Steven] Elsewhere a series of bucolic structures

conceals a dark history.

There are some that look like quaint little houses.

It almost looks like a little holiday village.

It's like a retreat

or some place that you would go

to rest and relax,

but it's completely empty, completely deserted.

[Steven] Who once lived in these pretty houses?

And what kind of conflict shattered their life here?

On Angel Island, ranger Casey Dexter Lee

sifts through layers of history.

One of the nice things about exploring around

Angel Island, is even someone like me

who's lived and worked here for 20 years,

I'm still discovering new things.

[Steven] The ruins here date back to the 19th century.

With the beginning of the Civil War in 1861,

public concern over the lack of defenses

public concern over the lack of defenses

in the San Francisco Bay continued to mount.

[Steven] This is Camp Reynolds,

a garrison for up to 700 men,

It's the first military site to be built on Angel Island.

[Casey] Camp Reynolds was built in 1863,

to help as defense during the American Civil War,

to protect San Francisco from attack from the Confederacy.

[Steven] At first, Angel Island seemed like

[Steven] At first, Angel Island seemed like

one of the US Army's most desirable postings.

[Casey] In 1864, there was an inspection

and one of the people in that group was Mark Twain.

And he wrote about Camp Reynolds

calling it a pleasant little village.

I can see that little village

that Mark Twain was talking about,

but this place has a darker side.

As it turns out, soldiers posted here were sent off

As it turns out, soldiers posted here were sent off

to some pretty awful combat.

[Steven] When the American Civil War ended in 1865,

soldiers stationed on Angel Island were looking forward

to some well-earned respite.

But it wasn't long before the threat

of another chilling conflict rippled through their ranks.

As Americans were pushing

further west and towards the pacific

these tensions between Americans

these tensions between Americans

and Native Americans grew violent.

And this is known as the Indian Wars.

[Steven] Native Americans had attacked white settlers

who'd encroached on their lands.

And by the 1870s, the US Government had forced them

onto reservations.

And the native people say enough,

and start fighting back.

[Steven] For the two companies of the US Army

based on Angel Island,

based on Angel Island,

it was only a matter of time before they were sent

to keep the peace.

They knew they'd pay the price for the invasion

of Native American lands.

If you were a soldier sent to Angel Island,

there was a pretty high probability

that you were going to be sent to fight

these warring tribes in the west.

And the troops here, you know, scouted

provided guards and escorts,

and generally patrol the American West

during this tumultuous period.

during this tumultuous period.

They would be sent wherever they were needed.

Wherever there was an outbreak of fighting in the Indian Wars.

[Steven] And the men of Camp Reynolds

knew what they were in for.

[Geoff] It came with great dangers because,

these battles were fought viciously without quarter.

So there would been high anxiety among troops here,

wondering where they would be deployed and against whom.

[Steven] Over in Oregon,

rebels from the Modoc tribe were refusing to stay

rebels from the Modoc tribe were refusing to stay

on a reservation far from their ancestral lands.

They were led by a warrior named Kintpuash,

known to the white settlers as Captain Jack.

Captain Jack

ended up fleeing the reservation

that the US Government had placed them in.

And they instead demanded

to be reserved on their own land.

[Steven] Captain Jack wanted to return home

[Steven] Captain Jack wanted to return home

to lands the Modoc had inhabited

for 14,000 years.

The US cavalry and a company of infantry from Angel Island

were sent to defeat them in battle

and drive them back to the reservation.

[Steven] Angel Island was the westernmost outpost

of the US Army.

And the nearest garrison to the Modoc Wars.

They would leave the island by steamer,

They'd be dropped at a railhead

They'd be dropped at a railhead

they'd be sent into the interior of the country,

or up a trail into Oregon Territory.

[Steven] By January 1873,

Captain Jack was holed up

with fewer than 60 Modoc warriors,

in an area of inhospitable terrain called the Lava beds.

The US Army closed in.

US troops were approaching

what they thought was flat land,

what they thought was flat land,

and what they didn't know was that the Modoc people

were hidden away in a stronghold.

[Alicia] US troops expected a quick Modoc surrender,

but that is not what happened.

[Katherine] You have this great battle where

the American soldiers believed they're gonna have an easy go of it.

In reality, it's very rugged terrain,

it's foggy, it's cold.

The Americans just get confused.

They're being attacked from all sides

and they finally retreat.

And this is a great victory for the Modoc people.

[Steven] The troops withdrew to Camp Reynolds.

[Geoff] They would be returned to the island for rest and relaxation

and to be reformed into another unit for another operation.

[Steven] But as the soldiers on Angel Island

knew all too well, there was one reason

why the war was far from over.

[Alicia] The Modocs would not go down without a fight.

[Alicia] The Modocs would not go down without a fight.

[Steven] In the 1870s,

soldiers stationed at Camp Reynolds on Angel Island,

were waiting for the call to return

to the dreaded Modoc War.

Meanwhile, back on the mainland,

President Grant decided to change tack in his dealings

with the Modoc leader, Captain Jack.

He sent a peace commission,

one US general, a clergyman, to parley with Captain Jack,

and Captain Jack, you know, welcomed the peace Commission,

parleyed with him, was getting nowhere with his demands,

so he killed the two commissioners.

[Katherine] Though Captain Jack had hoped

that killing these two peace negotiators

would push the Americans to back off,

it had the exact opposite effect.

American troops come down hard on the Modoc people.

American troops come down hard on the Modoc people.

[Geoff] This provoked a violent reaction from Grant.

He sent cavalry troops, plus the 12th Regiment

from Angel Island, and they pursued Captain Jack,

cornered them, fought a battle, defeated them.

[Katherine] After their capture,

Captain Jack and three others were hanged for their crimes.

[Steven] And their comrades ended up on Angel Island.

The two men who were captured

The two men who were captured

with Captain Jack

died in prison and eventually were buried on Angel Island.

[Steven] The Modoc War, is thought to be

the costliest of all the so called Indian wars.

The casualties included 53 US soldiers,

17 civilians, 15 Modoc warriors,

of whom only five of which died in battle.

[Geoff] Both companies from Angel Island,

suffered heavy casualties in the Modoc War.

[Steven] Following the war,

most of the Modoc people were relocated to Oklahoma.

Few ever returned to their ancestral northwestern lands.

Angel Island is now a California state park,

and historical landmark.

As the largest natural island in San Francisco Bay,

it's become popular with hikers.

it's become popular with hikers.

[Katherine] You've got the space

that was once for soldiers.

Now it's being used by families and enjoyed by people

uh, from all across the state and all across the country.

[Steven] On the central Mexican Plateau,

is an engineering masterpiece,

that once brought life to this arid land.

[Alicia] There is this stunning bridge-like structure

that rises over the Earth

and then disappears at the ends.

[Jim] It looks like a railroad bridge,

but for some kind of miniature train,

it's only a couple of feet wide.

[Steven] The architectural style

suggests the vision for this classical looking ruin

was conceived on foreign shores.

[Jim] When you get close to it, you see that,

first of all, it's very old

and it seems to be built like,

something that the Romans might have built,

something that the Romans might have built,

or that might have been built in Renaissance Italy.

[Steven] Nearby, are more stone structures

and a religious building that at first glance

appears unconnected.

[Sascha] You've got a series of tanks and pools,

scattered around the place,

and then you have what looks like

an abandoned chapel.

[Steven] How do these desiccated relics connect

to the massive stone monument

and to the surrounding desert landscape?

and to the surrounding desert landscape?

[Sascha] There must have been a good reason

for engaging in such an extraordinary act

of construction right here at this remote spot.

[Steven] The idea for this

outlandish piece of engineering

came from an unexpected source.

Raul Macul Martinez, is an archeologist

at the Mexican Ministry of Culture.

He spent years sifting through the desert sands to understand

He spent years sifting through the desert sands to understand

how these structures were built.

[Raul] This is the great arcade

of Padre Tembleque in Otumba.

[Steven] The history of the Otumba region

is stained in blood spilt at the hands of foreign invaders.

[Sascha] In the early 16th century,

Spanish conquistadors

began a campaign against the Aztec Empire

here in this region of Central America.

here in this region of Central America.

[Steven] Once the Aztec Empire

had been vanquished,

a period of brutal Spanish occupation began.

And there seemed little anyone could do

to unite this troubled land.

In the Mexican desert,

a centuries-old monument towers towards the heavens,

but its origins are rooted in hell.

[Raul] As the invading Spanish armies spread out,

they took control of nearby towns

and the ancient urban centers.

So on one side,

you had the communities defending their territories,

their sacred sites and gods

while on the other,

the Spanish were imposing the new Castilian order,

the European order.

[Steven] And key to Spanish culture

was their religion.

[Jim] Everywhere they went,

they would bring these Catholic Friars

who would set up missions and try to convert

the native people's to Catholicism.

[Steven] The Spanish conquistadors

also enforce their will on the terrain.

also enforce their will on the terrain.

The introduction of European farming methods

like cattle grazing took a devastating toll

on the limited supply of fresh, clean water.

If there's one element that defines Otumba

and the surrounding regions,

it's a scarcity of rivers and fresh water.

[Raul] The presence of animals

constantly polluted the water.

So, there was a need to build something

So, there was a need to build something

to make the water get to the town,

basically to supply the convents

and the water fountains.

[Steven] A Spanish priest called Father Tembleque,

arrived in Otumba in the mid-1500s.

He suggested a solution to the problem.

[Sascha] Father Tembleque was an expert in hydraulic theory,

[Sascha] Father Tembleque was an expert in hydraulic theory,

the construction of a new and highly elaborate aqueduct

was meant to supply Otumba,

its residents and the surrounding region

with the fresh water that they needed.

[Steven] This is the aqueduct of Padre Tembleque,

named after the, Catholic clergyman

who inspired its creation.

Many religious people in the 16th century,

studied at the University of Salamanca.

studied at the University of Salamanca.

One of the biggest centers of education,

and knowledge in Spain.

And that's where they learned about hydraulics

and the maintenance of Roman aqueducts.

As the Padre would have studied there,

when he got here and saw the needs of the people,

he came up with this great idea.

[Alicia] Some of the people around him

did not have faith in Tembleque's ideas,

and they called him 'fraile loco de la nada'

or crazy friar of nothing.

[Raul] The plan was to take water

from the springs of Tecajete,

a small volcanic hill,

and carry it down from its slopes

through Papalote and onto Otumba.

The water's route would supply

The water's route would supply

the different convents along the way.

[Steven] For a project

of this ambitious scale to succeed,

Father Tembleque needed the help

of the indigenous workforce.

But he had to convince

skeptical tribal chiefs

that a reliable source of drinking water

was good news for everyone.

[Raul] He talked to tlatoque,

the local Aztec leaders who once ruled these lands

the local Aztec leaders who once ruled these lands

and proposed the construction of this aqueduct to them.

They agreed to organize squads of their people

as these indigenous communities often did.

There were 20 people per squad

in each squad

and they worked in weekly shifts,

which is what they did in ancient times.

But they didn't receive money.

They weren't paid.

All they got was food from their overlords,

from those who ruled them.

[Steven] But the Spanish invaders

[Steven] But the Spanish invaders

needed the knowledge of the indigenous people.

In Europe, when people built large stone structures,

whether it was a cathedral or an aqueduct,

they would build an elaborate wooden scaffolding

around it as they built it.

But out there in the desert,

you didn't have sources of timber

and, and working with wood was not something

these local artisans really knew how to do.

[Alicia] But if you actually look at this structure,

[Alicia] But if you actually look at this structure,

we can get some clues

of how they worked around this issue.

[Jim] So, they came up with a brilliant idea,

which was to build, in essence,

a structure out of adobe that would rise up

as they built the stones, support the stones

until they got everything put together,

And then they could take the adobe away

And you'd have this beautiful,

self-supporting stone structure.

[Steven] But with their brutal treatment

of the indigenous workforce

would the Spanish be able to convince them

would the Spanish be able to convince them

to use their skills and realize the Padre's dream?

In the mid-16th century in Mexico,

a major civil engineering project was underway.

Building began in 1555 and lasted 17 years.

Roman ingenuity inspired the aqueduct's design.

Homegrown expertise accomplished its construction.

Homegrown expertise accomplished its construction.

[Raul] The best way to summarize

the indigenous presence here,

the labor of local men and women,

boys and girls is that

they left their souls in these stones.

[Jim] Another clue to the idea

that these local artisans were really invested

in this project was the decorations they did,

the little paintings, the little insignia,

the little paintings, the little insignia,

little markings in the rocks.

This shows that it was the indigenous people

who built this aqueduct,

and they left the mark of their community's lives

on its walls.

[Jim] That seem to say,

we're taking some pride in this, and I wanna

put my John Hancock on this

arch that I built, because it's a big deal.

The building of this waterway

The building of this waterway

would not have been possible

were it not for the indigenous people and their knowledge.

[Steven] When complete,

the entire canal system stretched for 30 miles.

The channel carrying water was only about a foot across.

But if that channel is full of water

all day and all night, that's a lot of water.

Now they had a system

that distributed water all year round.

[Steven] And for the next few centuries,

water continued to flow along this marvel

water continued to flow along this marvel

inspired by ancient engineering.

But in time,

the mountain spring that supplied it began to dry up

and new sources of water were sought out.

[Raul] So the abandonment was already happening

as it hadn't been used for a while.

It was neglected

and grass and bushes started to block the water flow.

[Steven] The monument stands as an enduring

reminder of the clash between two worlds.

[Alicia] What remains today is this

fusion of two distinct cultures and ideas.

You have this Mesoamerican knowledge of construction

with this Roman hydraulics,

and the two exist together in this aqueduct.

and the two exist together in this aqueduct.

[Raul] When the construction of this aqueduct started,

no one believed that it would ever be finished

or that it could work.

Local communities here are still proud

that their ancestors built this.

[Steven] On a remote hillside in Wales

[Steven] On a remote hillside in Wales

a series of stone relics has survived the centuries.

[Geoff] Looking around in the valley you see a lot of these

old, old structures.

[Steven] There are homes here as well as signs of industry.

[Jim] As we make our way up this valley,

we see these two strange thick walls.

[Claire] And it looks a bit higgledy piggledy,

but it's definitely been placed there deliberately.

[Jim] The whole middle section of the wall is completely missing,

[Jim] The whole middle section of the wall is completely missing,

and through the gap flows a small little river.

[Steven] Something catastrophic

caused this well-built wall to collapse.

[Claire] If there's a failure

in either the masonry structure

or an explosive failure,

then you're basically sitting on a bomb of energy.

[Steven] As the pieces of this stone jigsaw come together,

a picture of an important past starts to emerge.

[Jim] This valley was pivotal to

British history for several reasons.

[Steven] David James' family has lived

in the Elan Valley for generations

He knows how to read this landscape.

[David] So we're walking towards the entrance of the mineshaft.

There was metal work here

to lift the lead ore out of the mine.

to lift the lead ore out of the mine.

[Steven] Lead has been mined here for thousands of years.

And over the centuries,

an extensive infrastructure had developed.

[Geoff] By the 18th and 19th century,

Britain becomes the center of lead mining in Europe.

[Steven] The Elan Valley became a hive of industry

as people flocked to work here.

[David] The miners that worked here

lodged in the different cottages and farms

lodged in the different cottages and farms

spread throughout the Elan Valley here.

[Steven] But there are also some

seemingly unrelated structures hidden near this site.

[David] You've got bricks inside and outside,

and then the concrete, reinforced concrete in between.

The walls are roughly about a foot and a half thick.

[Claire] They're leftovers from the Second World War

All they're designed to do is hold a man,

All they're designed to do is hold a man,

a gun and defend an area

that he can see directly from it.

They line up one after the other

and you create a wall of fortification.

In here, you have a window, for the marksmen to

point their guns out of.

[Kasper] These gun ports face down the valley

toward a series of lakes,

which have been manmade, but for no apparent reason,

but directly downstream of Elan Valley

is the city of Birmingham

and its vast industrial hinterland.

[Jim] In the late 19th century,

Birmingham needed a better source of fresh water

as their population grew.

They constructed a series of dams to impound

the water in this valley.

[Steven] It took almost 10 years

to lay 73 miles of underground pipe,

build four dams,

and flood 850 acres of Elan Valley,

submerging a manor house and a lead miners' village.

And by the Second World War,

water from the Welsh valleys had helped Birmingham grow

into a center of ordinance, armaments,

and vehicle manufacture.

The British were worried

that the Germans might try to attack

and take out these dams.

[Geoff] This was the German planning

[Geoff] This was the German planning

for Operation Sea Lion, their eventual takeover of the British isles

And so the British were on guard against attacks

on key infrastructure.

[Steven] The overgrown fortifications

were built to guard

Birmingham's crucial water supply.

But one dam at the head of the Elan Valley

has been blasted apart.

So, did the Germans fulfill their mission?

In Wales,

the broken Nant-Y-Gro Dam sits at the top of the Elan Valley

Its destruction dates back to the Second World War.

[David] So what we had here

was Nant-Y-Gro Dam

Um, it was stretched across

the Nant-Y-Gro stream here.

As 35 foot high and full of water.

As 35 foot high and full of water.

And as you can see,

the middle of the section of the dam

was completely blown away.

[Steven] By the start of the war

the Nant-Y-Gro Dam had become redundant.

[Claire] The Nant-Y-Gro Dam was a substantial

structure in its time,

originally built for the workers

living in the area.

But times have moved on

and it wasn't needed any more.

[Steven] But with the onset of war

the out-of-use dam came into its own

when it attracted the attention

when it attracted the attention

of the British inventor and aeronautical engineer,

Barnes Wallace.

[Jim] Barnes Wallace

began thinking about what it was gonna take

to damage German infrastructure.

The British knew there were a number of dams

on Germany's Ruhr River.

If they could knock out one, two, three of these dams,

it could set the Germans back months or years.

[Claire] So, Barnes was starting from scratch here.

How could he

How could he

take out a huge dam behind enemy lines?

[Steven] No fighter plane

had the capability to carry a bomb that was big enough

to blast the dams from the air.

So, Barnes Wallace

started by experimenting with naval torpedoes.

But the Germans had already thought of this,

and they had assembled

an array of underwater nets

to protect these dams from just this risk.

to protect these dams from just this risk.

[Steven] He had to find a way

to blow up the dams using smaller bombs.

He needs to find a place in the UK

where he can try out this dam busting concept.

[Claire] That's where the Nant-Y-Gro came in.

It's only a fifth of the size of the dams

that they were aiming for in Germany.

But if they could get it to work on this one,

there was a good chance

if they scaled it up, it would work behind enemy lines.

[Steven] But the Nant-Y-Gro Dam

[Steven] But the Nant-Y-Gro Dam

wasn't that easy to destroy.

[David] The first experiment

was done in May 1942.

And even though it was spectacular,

it didn't cause much damage to the dam.

[Claire] It goes off successfully,

but barely dents the dam structure itself.

They need to think bigger.

[David] They come back in July 1942,

with a bigger bomb, a 279-pound explosive,

with a bigger bomb, a 279-pound explosive,

dangled it from the center of the dam, under the water

and remotely detonated it and boom!

It blew a hole in the dam you see today.

Sixty foot wide, the hole is,

and if you come through here,

what we have here

is the remains of the other side of the dam.

And if you look down here, the bottom of the dam was left

And if you look down here, the bottom of the dam was left

and the rest was blown away.

[Claire] This experiment proves that

if he could get a big enough explosion

just below the waterline,

you could blow the masonry apart

and then use the pressure of the water built up

behind the dam, use all of that energy

to tear apart the structure itself.

You're onto a winner.

[Geoff] Now they have to figure out

the tactics of skipping that bomb

up against the wall of the dam.

[Jim] Wallace thought, "What if I can build a bomb

[Jim] Wallace thought, "What if I can build a bomb

that could bounce along the top of the water

over the nets the Germans had assembled

to protect their dams?"

[Steven] With the Nant-Y-Gro Dam gone,

the bouncing bomb was perfected

on other British reservoirs.

And in May 1943,

Barnes Wallace's bouncing bombs

successfully took out two German dams,

marking a big turning point

marking a big turning point

for the allies in the Second World War.

Back at the broken dam in Wales,

enthusiasts like David

continue to unearth the secrets of this site.

[David] I absolutely love the history of the Elan Valley.

It goes back as far back as the Bronze Age

and is still making history today.

[Steven] On the flatlands of central Belarus

sits a small collection of ruins

with a big history.

[Sascha] All across the site, there's a real hodgepodge

of different types of buildings

from different periods,

some ancient, some more modern.

[Michele] Ceilings have caved in,

walls have collapsed

and the greenery and grass look like

they're almost swallowing

they're almost swallowing

the structures up.

[Steven] Spanning just 100 acres,

the secret to this site's success

is cleverly concealed.

[Claire] It's not all about the surface,

underneath there's lots and lots of tunnels,

lots and lots of places to get lost.

[Steven] These hunkered down military constructions

would dictate the fate of Europe.

[Sascha] Were it not for the small but mighty fortress,

the situation might have turned out very differently.

the situation might have turned out very differently.

A lot more Europeans might be speaking French today.

[Steven] Local historian Sergei Pshantsev

has known this place for many years.

[Sergei] During my childhood,

I came here with my friends.

We were curious to learn more about every basement,

every tunnel, every part of it.

every tunnel, every part of it.

[Steven] This is the Babruysk Fortress.

Its story is linked to one of the most

infamous men in European history,

Napoleon Bonaparte.

[Michele] In the early 19th century,

most of the European continent was under French rule

and the power of the mighty Napoleon Bonaparte.

[Steven] Back then, these ruins and the country

of Belarus were part of the Russian Empire,

the sworn enemy of Napoleon and his allies.

the sworn enemy of Napoleon and his allies.

[Michele] Various plans were drawn up for the defense

of the Russian Empire

and one suggested a series of fortresses

along the rivers on the western side of the empire.

[Steven] In 1810, construction began.

A series of state-of-the-art strongholds would

block Napoleon's paths into Russia.

And the town of Babruysk was essential to guarding Moscow.

And the town of Babruysk was essential to guarding Moscow.

[Claire] This was a key spot on the river,

a tactical advantage to create a fortification.

You could stop a huge number of people

moving from A to B in this particular spot.

[Steven] The Russian czar threw everything he had

at building a fortress to defend his empire

against the most formidable of adversaries.

[Claire] Napoleon didn't do things by halves,

he raised a massive, massive army

he raised a massive, massive army

a huge number of men

and started approaching the Russian border.

[Sascha] Using troops from all over his European territories,

he raised an army that's estimated to have been

between 450,000 and 650,000 soldiers.

This was the largest invasion force

that had ever been put together in European history.

[Steven] And with fewer than half Napoleon's troops,

the Russian commanders were facing almost certain defeat.

the Russian commanders were facing almost certain defeat.

In 1812, in the Belarus town of Babruysk,

a carefully designed Russian fortress

was bracing itself for a vicious onslaught.

Two hundred miles away,

the warring Napoleon Bonaparte

had crossed the border into Russia.

[Sascha] Napoleon expected a quick victory.

He thought he could push straight through

He thought he could push straight through

to the capture of Moscow, the capital.

[Steven] He was determined to reach the city

and engage the Russian army in open battle.

Napoleon Bonaparte was a scrapper.

He was a fighter.

He was a...

You know, really wanted to get up close

and punch the enemy.

And he had thousands of troops behind him.

[Steven] But little did he know

that this time

his daredevil attitude would work against him.

[Claire] What he wasn't expecting

was for the Russians to retreat.

[Steven] With Napoleon hot on their heels,

the fleeing Russian army raced across 100 miles,

heading for the safest place they knew,

the Babruysk Fortress.

[Sascha] This was the only fortress

on the route to Moscow that had the infrastructure

that could hold out against a determined assault.

[Claire] When the Russian troops

made it to Babruysk,

they received a warm welcome.

they received a warm welcome.

They found medical supplies, they found food,

and they found a defensive, safe place to stay.

[Steven] When the French Army reached Babruysk,

Napoleon was hoping

to find the Russians lined up for a glorious battle.

But the Russians had retreated,

and all that remained was a small garrison of men

cowering in the fort.

Even so,

the clever design of the czar's fortress

the clever design of the czar's fortress

meant that the battle-hungry Napoleon

would be unable to conquer it.

Behind me, you can see

the defense moats of the Babruysk Fortress

that would have been full of anti-infantry spikes at the bottom.

These spikes were there

to stop the enemy's cavalry and infantry.

And the cannons that defended the Babruysk Fortress.

Once stood above the moat all around the perimeter.

Once stood above the moat all around the perimeter.

There would have been about 300 cannons

a very serious threat to any enemy.

[Claire] If anyone steps into that zone,

they are risking getting a huge, huge

set of explosives sent their way.

[Steven] The well-planned kill zone

ensured that Napoleon could not take the fort.

So, he left behind

a large detachment of 10,000 men

a large detachment of 10,000 men

to lay siege

and starve out the remaining Russian defenders

holed up inside.

But thanks to the foresight of the Babruysk planners,

the Russian garrison had one more trick

to thwart Napoleon's domination of the fort.

[Sergei] We are currently standing in a mine tunnel

around five or six meters below ground.

These mine tunnels were built

These mine tunnels were built

so that soldiers could leave the fortress

for scouting or sabotage

without being seen by the enemy.

Altogether, it was a unique creation at the time.

During the siege,

they used the tunnels to sneak out

and spy on the army,

collecting vital intelligence that could then be forwarded

to the Russian Army high Command.

[Steven] Meanwhile, as the remaining Russian troops

at Babruysk continued to withstand the siege,

at Babruysk continued to withstand the siege,

Napoleon drove his exhausted men

on towards Moscow,

expecting to find the Russian army there.

But at the gates of the city,

the French dictator met a confusing sight.

When Napoleon's depleted grand army

finally reached Moscow,

to their utter disbelief, they find it abandoned

and scorched to the ground as well.

[Claire] The Russians had already left.

They already moved out.

They already moved out.

They were not going to engage in the fight.

And Napoleon and his

already stretched, depleted,

unhappy troops found an empty city.

[Steven] With winter approaching

and food supplies dwindling,

Napoleon had no choice but to retreat.

And there was one thing

blocking his path back to safety,

the still undefeated Babruysk Fortress.

During their retreat from Moscow,

Napoleon's troops were really quite battered.

So, they had to find somewhere to get some rest,

regain stability

and regroup their forces.

But since the Babruysk Fortress

was still held by the Russians,

he had nowhere to retreat to

and that was the final straw.

After such a long retreat,

the French army never recovered from it.

[Steven] The fortress remained unconquered,

and for The Great Napoleon Bonaparte,

it was an utter humiliation.

[Sascha] The Napoleonic invasion of Russia

is one of the greatest military disasters of all time

and that is really the beginning

of the end for Napoleon.

Within two years,

Napoleon is going to have to abdicate

and go into exile.

[Steven] Today, the Babruysk ruins

[Steven] Today, the Babruysk ruins

lie silent and crumbling.

[Sascha] Why is this place important to me?

I lived here

and also my father served in the military here

before retiring as Major.

So every building,

every bush is familiar to me.