Gulyay-gorod, also guliai-gorod, (Russian: Гуля́й-го́род, literally: "wandering town"), was a mobile fortification used by the Russian army between the 15th and the 17th centuries.
Russian armies would construct a gulyay-gorod from large wall-sized prefabricated shields (with holes for guns) installed on wheels or sleds, a development of the wagon-fort concept. The usage of installable shields instead of permanently armoured wagons cost less and allowed the assembly of more possible configurations. The gulyay-gorod developed as a popular fortification in the Eastern European steppe nations, where flat, void landscape provided no natural shelter. 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).
The wide-scale usage of gulyay-gorod started during the Russo-Kazan Wars of 1438-1552, and later the Ukrainian Cossacks used the fortification extensively. A gulyay-gorod played the critical role during the Battle of Molodi (1572), which brought to a halt the expansion of the Crimean Khanate into the Russian lands. In Ukraine, Bogdan Khmelnitsky had a large gulyay-gorod built for the siege of the castle of Zbarazh in 1649.
At night when I close my eyes, I’m dreaming up another way to escape
From the pain that’s killing me, got way too much on my plate
And the worst of it is you’re not here to comfort me
I shoulda known it wouldn’t last too long, we were both in different places
And our friends never got along, so eventually we had to face it
Now you’re gone and I regret we didn’t work it out
All because she found it, the message that I wrote to my ex-girlfriend
And the worst part is I promised her I’d never do it again
But I broke that promise, though I thought it was harmless, I was wrong
Regardless
[Chorus]
I shoulda told her that I still had feelings
I coulda showed her that our love was the real thing
I woulda made it alright, but all I got is shoulda coulda woulda’s in my
Life
I shoulda never let her break
Wish I could take it back but now it’s too late
I woulda changed her mind, now all I got is shoulda coulda woulda’s in my
Life
Shoulda left it in the past, coulda saved a lot of tears and heartbreak
Woulda cleaned up the mess I made, instead I’m living with my greatest
Mistake
I destroyed the only woman that I ever loved
I can’t blame her for the things she said, I shoulda listened to what mama
Told me
With all the shit that my father did, he ended up being sad and lonely
Now I don’t know if I’ll ever find love again
And it’s all because she found it, the message that I wrote to my
Ex-girlfriend
And the worst part is I promised her I’d never do it again
But I broke that promise, though I thought it was harmless, I was wrong
Regardless