Arkebuse ( fr. Arquebuse ) (not to be confused with the concept of " arquebuse ") - smooth-bore, wick muzzle - loading gun .
The first arquebuses appeared in the XV century. The weight of the arquebus varied between 2.5-3.5 kg. A characteristic difference between arquebuses and earlier samples of handguns was the presence of an ergonomic stock, an elongated barrel, a box along its entire length, and a wick lock with a trigger. All this allowed the shooter to apply and conduct aimed fire from the arquebus at very considerable distances. In addition, all the arquebuses of the 16th century were equipped with developed sights.
According to the Graz Museum [1] , the technical accuracy of the 16th-century arquebus allowed to hit a 60 by 60 cm target at a distance of 100 meters. For shooting from arquebuses, lead bullets of 15-17 mm caliber and a powder charge of about half the weight of the bullet were used. The speed of bullets using high-quality granular gunpowder could reach 450 m / s. The sufficiently high kinetic energy of the arquebus bullet (of the order of 2000 J) made it possible to penetrate knightly armor 2 mm thick from a distance of 30 meters. Usually from such a distance a volley was fired at the advancing cavalry.
Content
Application History
The oldest examples and dated images of such weapons date back to the 20s of the 15th century .
For the first time, arquebuses were used in large quantities by the Hungarian king-commander Matthias Corvin (1458-1490), who created the then-hired , every fourth infantryman in which was armed with similar weapons. They were also used during the Burgundian wars of 1474-1477 . According to the famous chronicler and diplomat Philippe de Commin , the second half is in France and Burgundy. XV century, the arquebus was called "manual kulevryna" [2] .
Arquebuses became most famous after the battle of Pavia in 1525 , when 3 thousand Spanish soldiers armed with them defeated 8 thousand French knights, thus putting an end to the power of the knightly armies in Europe. In the same era, the arquebuse began to be replaced by a musket , which has greater breakdown power, but is also heavier. As a result, the arquebus remained until the end of the century as a light, cavalry, and hunting weapon, while the arquebusiers turned into light infantrymen. Arquebuses with wheel locks and rifled trunks also spread in the 16th century. The length of the barrel increased, and the trunks themselves began to be made by drilling (as with muskets). By the beginning of the XVII century, the musket completely replaced the arquebus.
The arquebus was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in 1543 ; mass production of these weapons begins on the lands of Satsuma province. In 1575, at the Battle of Nagashino, Oda Nobunaga placed three lines of asigaru armed with arquebuses behind a wooden stockade, thereby preparing for an attack by the enemy cavalry. The three-line construction allowed the arrows of the two rear lines to reload their weapons, while the first line fired. Such tactics allowed continuous firing. A similar tactic in Europe was called Karakol . In addition to the internal wars in Japan itself, arquebuses were widely used during the Imja War . One of the Korean officials noted with annoyance the superiority of the Japanese warriors armed with arquebuses. After the war, Korea and China began to actively rearm their army with arquebuses. During the Tokugawa Shogunate (founded in 1603), contrary to popular "urban legends," the use of firearms continued [3] , as did its production, although due to the lower intensity of conflicts during this period they were less often used in military operations. Moreover, gradually, hand-held firearms turned into a farming tool (serving to scare away animals or kill them) rather than a real weapon of war, and such views began to change only at the beginning of the 19th century.
Arquebus was also in service with the soldiers of the Third. Tercia ( Spanish: tercio ) - the tactical unit of the Spanish Empire in the era of the Habsburg domination in European battles in the XVI century and in the first half of the XVII century. The following types of troops were represented in third - pikemen , swordsmen and arquebusiers , or musketeers . In theory, there should have been 3,000 soldiers in thirds, although in practice often less than half this number. The Spanish Terctions were the first tactical units in Europe where the personnel were represented by well-trained professional volunteers with excellent combat discipline, instead of the mercenaries who made up the majority of the European armies of that time. Sometimes the third was called the Spanish quads. Prior to the Battle of Rocroix (1643), the third was considered invincible.
Notes
- ↑ Peter Krenn, Paul Kalaus, Bert Hall. Material Culture and Military History: Test-Firing Early Modern Small Arms (English) // Material Culture Review / Revue de la culture matérielle. - 1995-06-06. - T. 42 , no. 1 . - ISSN 1927-9264 .
- ↑ Bussenard, Louis . The hunt for all = La chasse à tir mise à la portée de tous / Louis Boussenard; Per. with fr. N.V. Nikolaeva, Yu. M. Rosenberg; Note A. G. Moskvin. - M .: Ladomir, 1998 .-- 509 p. - ISBN 5-86218-262-4 .
- ↑ David L. Howell. The Social Life of Firearms in Tokugawa Japan (English) // Japanese Studies. - 2009 .-- 27 April ( vol. 29 , iss. 1: From Medieval to Modern: New Research on Japanese History ). - P. 65-80 . - DOI : 10.1080 / 10371390902780530 .
Literature
- Efimov S.V., Rymsha S.S. Weapon of Western Europe of the 15th — 17th centuries - Volume 2. Crossbows, artillery, hand guns, combined and hunting weapons. - SPb .: Atlant, 2009 .-- 384 p.: Ill. - Series "Armory Academy". - ISBN 978-5-98655-026-8 .
- Pocket William. The history of firearms: from ancient times to the twentieth century / Transl. from English M. G. Baryshnikova. - M.: Centerpolygraph CJSC, 2006. - 300 p .: ill. - ISBN 5-9524-2320-5 .
- Markevich V. E. Handgun. - SPb .: Polygon, 2005. - 2nd ed. - 492 p.: Ill. - Series “Military-historical library”. - ISBN 5-89173-276-9 .
- Funken L., Funken F. The Middle Ages. Renaissance era: Infantry - Cavalry - Artillery / Per. with french M. B. Ivanova. - M .: LLC "AST"; Astrel, 2004 .-- 146 p.: Ill. - Series "Encyclopedia of weapons and military costume." - ISBN 5-17-014796-1 .
Links
- Arkebuz // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.