It was a giant foldaway protected ladder that allowed the safe transferring of soldiers onto the enemy wall. On its front end, it had a protected assault platform, while on the rear end, a box of lead counterweight for balancing. The structure was mounted through a horizontal hinge (so as to allow rotation) on a pyramide shaped protected base on wheels or on a simple tripod. On the floor of the base, there was a vertical screw that came into contact, through an intermediate beam, with the ladder in front of the articulation. The right or left rotation of the screw (by means of hand levers) ensured the desired inclination of the ladder. When at rest, the ladder was at a relatively upright position whereas in the event of attack, the soldiers climbed the ladder and gathered onto the assault platform through the protected corridor. Then the operators of the winch lifted it to a horizontal position and the soldiers, after they had lowered the protective gate, attacked and disembarked onto the wall or even behind it with the help of the hanging ladder.