Textile - redcloth - code block

I’m just getting into RedCloth and am struggling a bit with using the
pre and code tags.

Why do I need to use both? Is there a tag or way for me to extend
RedCloth to always use both pre and code with just one tag?

Does redcloth support all the syntax for textile? Or do I need to
install more software to get things working?

I see from this site…
Web Services - IT Services - University of Warwick

that I should be able to use syntax \\ to setup a

 tage but
perhpas this person has aditional plugins installed. How do I go about
doing this?