[QUOTE=The inimitable Winston Churchill]
We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
[/QUOTE]
During WWII on the Eastern Front there were many epic battles involving “castles” and other old time fortifications. The lengthy ones involved structures that post-dated the introduction of cannons in warfare and had been improved over the years.
The attackers threw an insane number of bodies in and didn’t care about the casualties. When you can’t kill 'em fast enough and more keep coming, you lose.
However, the ToL was pre-cannon warfare design. It would have been torn apart in a few rounds of modern artillery fire. It was worse than useless defensively.
If nothing else, you could put antiaircraft batteries on it (as you could with the roof of any sufficiently sturdy building) if things were getting particularly bad.
Fun trivia: The HMS Victory was damaged badly enough during the Battle of Britain, causing her to need to be kept in drydock ever since. No doubt one more nail in the coffin of the thought that ships could stand up to airpower without friendly aviation.
