ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Cheval de frise

A "cheval de frise" is like a giant comb made of wood or metal that people used to keep enemies away from their stuff. Remember how Mom and Dad put a fence around the house to keep you safe and stop the neighbor's dog from coming in? A cheval de frise is kind of like a fence, but it's not in the ground. It's on the ground, and it's made of pointy sticks or sharp spikes.

When the bad guys want to attack, they might use horses, wagons or tanks to smash through things. But if they see a cheval de frise, they have to stop. They don't want to ruin their vehicles, or let themselves get hurt by the pointy spikes. It's like trying to run through your Lego blocks with your bare feet. Ouch!

People in old times used cheval de frise a lot to defend their land or buildings from invaders. Some cheval de frise were so big and heavy that it took many people or horses to move them from one place to another. Nowadays, we use more modern ways to protect our things, but it’s still neat to learn about these old ways of defense.
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