Layered galleries and concealed defenders

Caernarfon's galleries let defenders move between numerous firing positions. An attacker trying to return fire first has to identify which of many arrow loops contains the archer. Assaulting one face of the castle can expose the attacker's back to fire from another. Defenders can shift through internal passages and fire from behind a force that believes it has taken their earlier position. Swords and possibly polearms threaten intruders in confined spaces, while defenders can also push away assault ladders. The counter-battery analogy explains the difficulty of locating and suppressing fire from this arrangement.