Improvements in firearms

Since the siege artillery destroyed the castles of the Middle Ages, European countries realized the power of gunpowder and gunpowder weapons, and since then they have begun to pay attention to the development of firearms. In the 15th-17th centuries, firearms were improved and quickly put into service.

1. Artillery

The casting materials of early artillery were mostly copper or bronze, but copper guns were soft and easy to deform, which was not very suitable for heavy artillery. Later, when casting heavy artillery, molten iron was injected into the mold, cooled, and then the blank was removed. The quality of the cannon depends on the quality of the firing and casting technology. The artillery blank is made, and then the boring hole is drilled with a hydraulic drill bit. Finally, at the time of testing, the weight of * must be equal to the weight of the projectile, and the gun will be considered qualified and delivered to the army.

In the 15th century, a prominent change in the practice of artillery in warfare was the appearance of field artillery. The French army mounted lighter bronze cannons on horse-drawn two-wheeled carts, and field artillery began to appear on the battlefield. During this period, the French also mounted artillery on gun mounts with wheels, which increased mobility, and could also be aimed and ranged.

The artillery of the 16th century did not meet the standards of long range, accurate shooting, and high lethality, and its mobility was relatively poor. In order to improve these deficiencies, the barrel can only be lengthened, the firing range can be extended, and the wall of the barrel can be thickened so that it can withstand the explosive force of a large amount of shells in the chamber. But at that time, solving these problems made it difficult to achieve the mobility of artillery. At the end of the 15th century, although the French field artillery was in the lead, due to many shortcomings and deficiencies, its advantage was offset by the Spanish infantry light firearms. For most of the 16th century, the Spaniards had a clear advantage in cannon-making technology.

Before the middle of the 16th century, Spain, France and other European military powers competed to build artillery, and the types and calibers of artillery were very complex, which made it difficult to supply ammunition to suit the "appetite" of various types of artillery. In view of this, King Charles V of Spain was the first to order the unification of empire-made artillery into 7 models. France followed Spain's lead and specified six types of French artillery. However, in the process of development and development of artillery, there are still many models and types, and there are also differences between countries.

Due to the efforts made in the early stage, artillery changed a lot in the 17th century, and artillery became an independent branch of the army, and formed the following main types: the first type is the long gun type, which is equivalent to modern artillery; The second category is the cannon, that is, the prototype of the howitzer; The third type is a gun with a thin barrel wall and a high ballistic, which is the prototype of a modern mortar. During this period, the production technology of guns advanced so much that for nearly two centuries, the range, power, and main models of guns remained largely unchanged.

2. Muskets

Since the appearance of muskets in Europe in the 14th century, the evolution of muskets has been slow, perhaps due to the complexity of their use, so that their advantages have not yet been recognized. But in the following centuries, as technology advanced, the performance of the musket improved, and its status changed with it.

In the 15th century, Western European craftsmen redesigned the wooden grip of the original "musket" so that it could be leaned on the soldier's shoulder when firing, rather than on a stand or on the ground, and the definition of a rifle was formalized as a long-barreled firearm fired by a single soldier (14).

By the middle of the 15th century, someone invented a safer ignition device, thus creating the arquebus, a new type of gun ignited with an arquebus, compared with the previous musket, it was not much different, but it was replaced with a new ignition device, but it was this device that made the musket fire faster, and the shooting was more accurate, and the disadvantage was that its range was not far enough, the penetration of the gun after the bullet was relatively small, and the infantry at that time used more and more armor, so its use was not widespread.

The smoothbore arquebus was a heavier light weapon developed by the Spaniards, with a longer barrel and heavier projectiles, which could pierce armor and block cavalry charges. The lengthening of the barrel and the improvement of gunpowder allowed the bullet to have a higher speed after firing and a longer range. On the other hand, as the gun became heavier, it had to rest on a fork mount in order to fire, resulting in poor mobility. But given its strong firepower superiority, it was eventually accepted and widely used in the armies of European countries.

At the end of the 15th century, the Prussians invented the straight line test chamber gun, which is to engrave a straight groove in the chamber of the gun to reduce the friction of the projectile in the chamber when loading, and after the 16th century, some people changed the straight chamber to a spiral shape, which made the flight of the bullet more stable after the improvement and improved the shooting accuracy. However, due to the time-consuming nature of the front-loading projectile of this gun, attention was not paid to it, and it was not until the invention of the rear-loading gun that spiral rifling was widely used. In the 16th century, a type of machinery also appeared

Ignition device, that is, sulfur dioxide or flint is used to collide with steel sheets to produce sparks and ignite gunpowder. There is also a wheel ignition switch, which uses the same principle, and which has had a major impact on cavalry weapons and their tactics. However, this ignition device is too expensive and squeamish, so it cannot be widely used.

In the 17th century, the Swedes had an outstanding invention to put the projectile and * in a paper tube, and the paper tube was torn when loading, and the * and the projectile were loaded into the chamber, which not only simplified the loading process but also ensured the quantitative loading of *, and this kind of bullet was widely popularized and used in Europe later.

By the middle of the 17th century, a bayonet inserted into the muzzle of a smoothbore gun began to be widely used and partially replaced the spear. Around 1680, it was probably Vauban's use of a socket ring to fasten the bayonet to the barrel so that the chamber could be left free for firing (15). Soon improvements were made by attaching a knot to the handle of the bayonet and bolting it to the barrel. At the end of the 17th century, this bayonet was widely used by the armies of European countries. From then on, the musket soldiers themselves became spearmen, and the real spearmen soon disappeared from the infantry formations.

With the rapid development of science and technology in the 19th century, the development of firearms bid farewell to its long "childhood and entered adolescence". In the 19th century, people successively invented weapons such as rear-loading firing needle guns, metal-shelled bullets, smokeless gunpowder, and repeating machine guns.

Artillery and muskets were introduced to Europe with gunpowder, and in the evolution of firearms, in addition to the change in production technology, the gunpowder used has not changed, it has always been *, and this phenomenon has continued until the end of the 19th century, so it can be said that the improvement of weapons in this period is the improvement of weapons.

Four. Tactical change

The use of firearms has changed the traditional way of warfare, and the extensive use of artillery has promoted the evolution of siege and defense tactics; At the same time, with the advent of arquebuses, the traditional infantry combat mode was changed.

1. The emergence of the Spanish phalanx

At the end of the 15th century, in the war in support of the king of Naples against France, Gonzalo returned to Córdoba and was the first to recognize and fully exploit the power of light weapons. Perhaps it was he who discovered one of the most important tactical functions of weapons: that is, firepower is a multiplier that greatly strengthens the defensive force (16). In any case, he was the first to take advantage of this new discovery. He deployed arquebus soldiers in the trenches to defend the vast frontal positions, thus saving a lot of troops, allowing him to use more troops to deal with, maneuver, and defeat the much larger French army. He also managed to solve a fundamental problem of infantry warfare in the 15th century: the problem of how to defend arquebusiers who were loading in field combat. He mixed arquebusiers with pikemen, who provided reliable protection for the arquebusiers and used offensive assaults to bring the arquebusiers' light weapon firepower to full play.

This new formation system became known as the "Spanish phalanx". The formation of the phalanx was usually in this form, with spearmen arranged in dense three horizontal formations, each with 50 to 60 men in front and 20 columns in depth. On the four corners were arquebus soldiers lined up in dense squares. This sturdy and maneuverable dense formation has a width of about 150 meters and a depth of 100 meters. On each of the four sides of the phalanx were lined up with arquebusier soldiers, and a separate detachment was sent for skirmishes (17). In the second half of the 16th century, the Spanish army was formidable. The reason for this is precisely because it adopted the Spanish phalanx, an army system.

The Spanish phalanx, popular in the 16th century, features spearmen in the center and musketeers on all sides

2. Morris's reforms

As a result of the success of the Spanish column combat concept, Western European countries rushed to follow suit, but this system also had its own shortcomings, and its successors had to seek a more flexible and economical system. This was successfully taken by the Dutch general Morris, whose main contribution to the art of war was the use of force from the best tactical point of view.

Morris reformed the Spanish phalanx on the basis of the military system of the ancient Roman legions. He reduced the number of rows of the Spanish Spear Infantry Regiment from 40 to 10 and finally to 5, so that all the soldiers could throw all their weapons at once (18). The tactical formation created by Morris, consisting of five horizontal platoons with about 50 spearmen in each platoon and soldiers spaced about 3 feet apart, can be said to be the prototype of the modern linear formation. On each flank of this formation, there are three platoons of 40 men with muskets in each platoon, facing the enemy in four columns, 10 men per column, so that the musketeers can retreat and reload after shooting, and then the other horizontal teams repeat their movements, so that a rain of lethal bullets is generated.

In addition to reforming the formation system, Morris regularized the troops, training soldiers to walk in order, train to fire, march in reverse, reload, and act in unison. In this way, repeated training makes every action meet the standard, so as to reduce the probability of errors in actual combat and ensure the actual combat effect. In order to train well-trained officers, Morris founded a military academy in 1619, the first of its kind in Europe, and its graduates went on to serve in the Thirty Years' War.

3. Gustav's reforms

King Gustav of Sweden also became more sophisticated in the innovation of weapons and tactics, and he fully understood the value of firepower and momentum, and made the most of it. The purpose of Gustav's reforms was to improve the quality of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, so that these three arms would have greater combat effectiveness, so as to give full play to the power of their joint operations.

In the reform of the formation, Gustavus still retained the six horizontal infantry line trial formations created by Morris, and deployed the spearmen on both sides of the musketeers, so that the advantages and disadvantages of the two arms complemented each other and improved their combat effectiveness. The musketeers carried out the tactic of advancing as a whole during the battle, marching in the opposite direction after the first platoon had finished firing, and the soldiers in the second platoon were ready to fire a salvo. Moreover, in the process of moving in the opposite direction, the entire formation is still moving forward, so that the combat firepower of the entire team seems to be a small arms fire net swept forward. The formation moved forward, and the smoothbore soldiers were also covered by spearmen when changing ammunition. Later, Gustav invented the method of salvo fire, the so-called salvo is to let three rows of smoothbore gun soldiers shoot at the enemy at the same time, the first row kneels to shoot, the second row squats to shoot, and the third row stands to shoot, so that a layer of barrage is formed, which enhances the firepower. In order to increase the firepower of small arms, he also increased the fire support of regimental artillery.

Gustav also turned the cannon into an offensive weapon, which he used in combination with cavalry and infantry. The purpose of his use of artillery is to allow the artillery and other weapons to carry out the most powerful fire attack on decisive enemy targets. In order to make the gun highly mobile, he standardized the caliber of the Swedish gun into three calibers suitable for firing 24, 12 and 3-pounder shells. In the past, artillery usually had to occupy positions before the start of the battle, and throughout the engagement, the artillery was fixed in the position and could not move, as Gustav's light regimental artillery could do.

Gustav's efforts to develop regimental artillery illustrate an interesting phenomenon that often occurs in modern warfare, and that is that people always try to find a way to increase the firepower and lethality of weapons to meet the needs of front-line soldiers. The need for "accompanying artillery" in infantry warfare has always influenced the tactical theory, establishment and development of weapons in the army.

4. Frederick the Great: Diagonal Battle Sequence

Frederick was a conservative innovator, incorporating mobility, speed, and rate of fire into his military system. He actively used cavalry units, especially when the battle was about to start and in the early stages of the battle, he always attacked the enemy first. He invented the cavalry cannon, which gave the cavalry moving at high speed more firepower. And the most successful in his life was the use of the infantry "diagonal battle sequence".

The infantry formation of the Prussian army consisted of two columns, each of which was three columns in depth, separated by about 300 paces. The cavalry was arranged in two or three single columns, located on the flanks of the infantry column. There are four command points in the whole unit, which are located on the two flanks of the infantry and the two flanks of the cavalry, and this rigid combat system does not have any advantages in itself, and the key is the unexpected changes and deployments in the face of battle, which is the use of oblique combat sequences.

The success of the diagonal battle sequence in combat depended mainly on the perfect training and strict discipline of the Prussian infantry. To use this formation effectively, the commander must first understand the enemy's disposition and wait for an opportunity to unexpectedly insert diagonally into the enemy before he has had time to reinforce his flanks. In addition, an avant-garde force should be sent to pin down the enemy in its original position and prevent it from temporarily mobilizing forces to resist the main attack. This offensive was characterized by fierceness, with almost continuous, continuous fire from infantry and artillery. The Battle of Leuten in 1757 is typical of the Diagonal Battle sequence used by Frederick (19).

From the above reforms, it can be seen that the tactical water of the European armies is gradually improving, which is not only related to the use of gunpowder and firearms, but also inseparable from the situation in Europe at that time, the 16th and 17th centuries took place more wars than at any time in European history, so it created opportunities for the reform and practice of tactics.

Five. logistics

The use of firearms caused the greatest revolution in warfare, increasing the number of armies on the one hand, and making the supply system more important on the other hand (20). According to Tarit's estimates, European armies grew in size about 10 to 20 times in the 16th and 17th centuries (21). The expansion of the size of the army has brought difficulties to the supply of troops. During the Thirty Years' War, France, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire all invested more than 30,000 troops, while Russia used 130,000 troops in the Livonian War. As the number of people increases, the logistical supply tasks will inevitably increase. In particular, if a long-term siege is not overcome, supply and logistics will become a major problem. It has always been a tradition for armies to use looting as a supply, but it would be unwise to use looting alone to supply a war with large numbers. If the place of attack is too high to be conquered for a long time because of the high walls of the city, and the defenders are strong and clear, it is quite difficult to rely on looting for supplies. In the Thirty Years' War, one of the reasons why Gustav's army succeeded was that it had better logistical supply. When Isabella conquered Granada, he also provided a good guarantee for the logistics and provided a strong guarantee for the capture of Granada. On the contrary, during the Thirty Years' War, the "locust swarms" of Valentans adopted the policy of "feeding war with war", which should be regarded as a typical example (22).

The armament of firearms with the troops has led to a major change in the traditional logistical supply, and the weight of the baggage has increased greatly, so that the logistical supply is no longer just a matter of food and grass. During this period, with the application of firearms, logistics supplies faced more problems, and the tasks became more arduous and onerous. Horses were used not only for cavalry, but also for carrying artillery, for example, a Spanish artillery used 25 horses for carrying it. In wars, it is not uncommon for a battle to be lost due to supply problems. In 1557, King Philip II of Spain commanded an army that could have taken Paris and occupied France, but at the critical moment, he gave up his low-hanging victory, because the logistical costs were too high and the talent was too strong to achieve victory, and the cost of war was increasing due to the use of firearms, and it was impossible to fight without money (23). The increase in the cost of war is manifested in two aspects, one is that the attacking side has to pay a heavy price (human, material, financial), and on the other hand, because of the great destruction, the losses caused to the enemy are also enormous. War has become a struggle for strength and money, and higher requirements have been put forward for logistical support, and the importance of logistical support has become more prominent, so people have paid more attention to logistical work in war than ever before. Military logistics has entered a new historical period with the application of firearms.

The influence of gunpowder and firearms on Europe was multi-layered and multifaceted, and it contributed to the great progress of military civilization. The progress of military civilization is multifaceted, but the impetus of gunpowder and firearms is incomparable to other factors. Driven by this dynamic force, the European military took the lead in completing the transition to modern military civilization.