Bombardment

A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops, or towns and buildings.

Prior to World War I the term was only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, it was only loosely employed to describe artillery attacks upon forts or fortified positions in preparation for assaults by infantry. Since then it has come to mean any mass attack delivered by artillery or short range tactical missiles, and also as aerial bombardment if delivered by aircraft or long range missiles.