Highgarden's briar maze defence

[Trigger Warning]

3 hours ago, John Suburbs said:

@Trigger Warning

@Universal Sword Donor

 

One more point and then I'll bow out.

So the maze is no good because it provides cover for the attackers. And yet the attackers have to either cut or burn it down to get past it, creating the very kill zone that benefits the defenders. Still sounds like an effective defense to me.

 

They're only going to clear enough to either get siege engines through or room to begin sapping, they won't even need siege trenches to fan out from their centre for the rest because they can just use the hedges as cover. They'd just leave the rest because it covers them from any decently sized sally because it's obviously very hard to manoeuvre and direct a charge through a maze with cavalry being out of the question. They're gonna do what they always do in those uncovered spaces and deploy mantlets, then they can use the rest of the maze as cover to get men into position to do what they have to do, sappers, start fires at the base of a wall, pick at walls etc. 

If it's such a good defence why do we not find castles in history being surrounded by trees and bushes right up to the walls let alone an actual hedge maze. Giving the enemy less cover to approach you and not obscuring your own sight lines is just defence 101, this entire argument against it has the weight of the entirety of history's military doctrine on its side.