The use of term
gulyay-gorod is noted in sources from the 1530s, during the
Russo-Kazan Wars, and it was understood not only as a type of
wagon-fort, but also as
siege towers. Later, this term could cover mobile barriers like the
cheval de frise. It was probably just an adaptation of the German term
"wagenburg". At first, it was used to cover artillery during the siege of fortresses. In 1572 gulyay-gorod was very successfully used by the commander
Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky in the heavy field
battle of Molodi. So in the following years, the use of gulyay-gorod expanded, and pre-made shields were stored not only in the border fortresses, but also near Moscow. For the transportation and equipment of Gulyai-gorod, a special
voivode was appointed, who had a separate cavalry detachment for reconnaissance.
Giles Fletcher, the Elder, English ambassador to
Russia, left an early Western description of the
gulyay-gorod in his
Of the Russe Common Wealth (1591). At the end of the 16th century, the term "gulyai-gorod" was gradually replaced by the term
"oboz", literally "wagon train". A Russian eyewitness describes how, during the next invasion of the
Crimean Tatars in 1591, Russian troops retreated to Moscow and defended themselves in the "wagon train" — "and by the ancient name - gulyay". At the beginning of the 17th century, another term appeared to denote a mobile fortification -
"tabor". ==Design and tactics==