The intelligence of the Gondorians might have been excellent, but there is always room for error and unpreparedness! Many, with Jallanite at the fore, have noted T. covered the angles on this subject, for the most part.
Two quotations come to mind of the risks of assuming one's preparedness in war.
The first of these being a song that might very well have had a primitive parallel in Orcish on that day:
"Whatever happens we have got,
The Maxim gun, and they have not".
-Hilaire Belloc
The second, from U.S. Gen. Patton, regarding the use of walls (and, presumably, trenches):
“Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity,”
Comfort and safety can lead to hubris!
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